England all-rounder Chris Woakes said that he is desperate to retain his place in the side for the fourth Ashes Test against Australia after delivering match-winning performances with both bat and ball in third Test at Headingley to keep the series alive.
Woakes played his first Test in almost 16 months at Headingley, taking crucial three-fers in both innings and worked in tandem with Harry Brook and Mark Wood to guide England to a thrilling three-wicket win with his 32*.
England trails the series by 2-1 and will be hoping to make it 2-2 at Old Trafford. Woakes hopes that he has done enough to earn a selection in the national side for the upcoming game, which will start from July 19.
"When you get the opportunity to play in an Ashes series then you try and take it with both hands," Woakes told Sky Sports.
"I feel like last week went very well for myself and the team and when you win a game of cricket you obviously want to be part of the next game," he added.
"I am obviously desperate to be part of next week, but at the same time I will get there, try and perform well in practice, do my right prep and the selection is out of my control. What will be will be but hopefully I get the nod," he said.
Woakes' return to whites marked the end of a long road to recovery for him as he had to sit out throughout the last summer after a knee operation. His appearance at Headingley was the first one in the 'Bazball' era of skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
"Great to be back amongst the team and be part of what is an incredible Ashes series. It has been great to watch from the sides but now to be out there and in the middle is an amazing feeling," he said.
"All they are trying to do is take that fear of failure away from players, go out there and express yourself. We have realised we have got an incredibly talented squad, so it is just about letting players go out there, play their way and have the backing of the dressing room," he added.
"It very much feels that way. You are backed however you want to go about your business out in the middle. They are very much all about trying to win and that's always at the forefront of the mind," he said.
Australia will be looking forward to winning the fourth Test to make it 3-1 and win their first Ashes series on English soil since 2001. Woakes expects the game to be "tight".
"It is going to be another tight Test match. We have seen all three Tests in this series be really tight," he said.
"There is no doubt that Australia are a world-class side and are incredibly hard to beat and we've seen that across the series, but I think we are confident that we can go there and put in another strong performance to get the win," he added.
The pitch will be a determining factor in result, said Woakes.
"The pitch will probably depend on what team we go in with, but the team will be confident in going and trying to get the win. We had a great week at Headingley and hopefully, we can take that confidence going into next week," he signed off saying.
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