Chris Woakes believes home advantage stacks the odds in India’s favour at the World Cup but insists his England side are motivated to “knock them off their perch”.
The last three editions of the tournament have all gone the way of the host nations, with India lifting their last global title in Mumbai in 2011, followed by Australia in Melbourne in 2015 and England at Lord’s four years ago.
India have done little to reduce their status as pre-competition favourites, kicking off their campaign with heavy wins over Afghanistan and Australia, while Asian rivals Pakistan also have two wins from two.
But Woakes, who was part of Eoin Morgan’s triumphant team in 2019 and is looking for a repeat performance, is not overawed.
“It’s an incredibly tough challenge to win in India. Naturally, I think the sub-continental teams will feel more at home with the conditions,” he said.
“That makes it extremely hard for us to knock them off their perch, so to speak. But we’ve got the squad and the players to be able to compete. People have looked at us for a while and we’ve had a little bit of a target on our back as a white-ball team, around the world.
“It’s a tough competition to win isn’t it? Especially here. But we’ll give it a good crack. We’re taking it each game as it comes.
“Naturally, people have got expectations of us and we’ve certainly got our own expectations of ourselves.”
England’s defence is back on track after they followed an opening defeat to New Zealand with a 137-run success over Bangladesh, with their shifting fortunes exemplified by Woakes’ own figures.
The 34-year-old was off the pace against the Black Caps, leaking 45 runs in six wicketless overs, but warmed to his work on Tuesday night, opening his account with the wickets of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Tigers top-scorer Liton Das.
Unfancied Afghanistan are next, in Delhi on Sunday, with Woakes eager to continue his upward trajectory.
“It’s the start of a long tournament,” he said. “I certainly feel that I would’ve liked to have bowled a little bit better but they are long competitions and you don’t want to peak too soon, I suppose.
“I have built into tournaments in the past and into series, which I suppose holds me in good stead moving forward. But you contribute every time you go out in the field so I’ll be working hard in practice to try and make sure that I’m on the money when I get the opportunity.”
Woakes also had his say on the news that cricket was on the cusp of making its return to the Olympic Games, having last appeared as a one-game showcase in 1900.
The Warwickshire all-rounder does not expect to be around for Los Angeles 2028, but is enthusiastic about the sport moving onto a new stage.
“I don’t think I’ll be playing at that age, but I think it would be great,” he said.
“Getting the game in front of more people is what we need to do. For a sport that I’ve played since I was a child, to be a part of the Olympics would be amazing for me.
“To be sat at home watching the lads taking on the rest of the world as an Olympic sport would be massive for the game. The more people that we can get watching it and maybe looking to take it up the better, and growing the game around the world is hugely important.”
Matthews wins third ICC Women’s Player of the Month award
Hayley Matthews has been named as the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for April after spearheading the West Indies’ success in Pakistan across both ODI and T20I series.
Matthews celebrates her third ICC Women’s Player of the Month award after previously winning in November 2021 and October 2023.
Her most recent success comes thanks to an array of eye-catching all-round performances resulting in 451 runs and 12 wickets across both shorter formats.
The West Indies began their tour of Pakistan with three ODIs, and skipper Matthews set the tone early with a dominant display in the opening encounter, blasting an unbeaten 140 from atop the order and following up with three wickets for 17.
More success followed with Matthews replicating her heroics in the third fixture, scoring 141 in 149 balls and taking two wickets for 26 in another comfortable victory to seal the ODI series sweep.
When the attention turned to the subsequent T20I series, the 26-year-old reinforced her position as the top-ranked Women’s T20I allrounder.
Back-to-back half-centuries in Karachi and six wickets at an average of 10.50 told the tale of her series, as she inspired the tourists to another emphatic 4-1 series triumph.
“I am really happy to win the award again. These performances resulted in the team’s success and that’s the most important thing for me as captain,” Matthews told ICC.
“To win in Pakistan was always a big goal. I wanted to perform well and contribute to the team’s success so to be able to have performances and get the results, that was really good and showed that the hard work and the concentration in Pakistan paid off.
“Being able to set some new records and achieve some new milestones as well was good for me so I’m extremely happy. We have confidence and we will take this with us going into the tour of Sri Lanka and look to secure more crucial points in the ICC Women’s Championship.”
Republic Bank CPL launches broadcast talent search
The Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) have launched a region wide talent search to find a presenter for their broadcast of the 2024 season. The CPL Talent Search is open to all Caribbean residents and the prize for the winner will be a contract to be a pitch side presenter for this year’s event.
This groundbreaking initiative will be searching for the next sports presenting super star from within the region with training on offer for the winning participant so that they can hone their talent and use this amazing opportunity as a springboard to a career in broadcasting. This is one of the many CPL initiatives that look to develop the next generation of Caribbean talent, but this is the first time that the focus will be on the CPL broadcast which was watched by 853.5million viewers in 2023.
Those wanting to submit a performance into the contest can do so by sharing them in front of the camera presenting or interviewing someone on social media with the hashtag #CPLTALENTSEARCH.
Paul Pritchett-Brown, CPL’s Head of Production, said: “We are really looking forward to seeing the submissions from the next generation of broadcasting talent from across the region. This is an amazing opportunity to showcase your skills in front of the camera and we are hopeful that we will get a lot of submissions as we search for the next on screen talent.”
Babar relieved after Fakhar and Rizwan guide Pakistan past Ireland
Babar Azam was left relieved after Pakistan made light work of chasing 194 to keep their T20I series with Ireland alive and take it to a winner-takes-all-decider.
Andy Balbirnie's 77 helped Ireland to their first victory over Pakistan in this format on Friday, but Babar's side responded in style on Sunday with their own seven-wicket triumph.
Lorcan Tucker's 51 powered Ireland to an impressive 193-7 in Dublin as Shaheen Shah Afridi registered figures of 3-49 and Abbas Afridi managed 2-33.
Yet that total was far from imposing as Pakistan chased the target down with 19 balls to spare thanks to a remarkable partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman.
The pair combined for a 140-run stand off only 78 balls for the third wicket as Fakhar smashed 78 from 40, while Rizwan was unbeaten on 75 after facing just 46.
"I'm relieved, credit to all batters," Babar said after the win. "We lost a few wickets early on but we kept the momentum going.
"Fakhar is very experienced and played according to situation which demanded positive intent. It's a good side, we got positives in this match and will look to give 100 per cent in the next match."
Rizwan added: "They played really well against us. It was not an easy chase because the Ireland bowlers knew their conditions better.
"They gave us a difficult time early on, but we decided that chasing 194, we have to attack. You're always under pressure when you lose especially with World Cup around the corner."
The two sides will meet again in Dublin on Tuesday to settle the three-match T20I series.
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