England vs Bangladesh: Chris Woakes waits on selection call despite fine summer form
The 27-year-old was on the fringes of the squad earlier this year but an injury to fellow all-rounder Ben Stokes gave him a window of opportunity
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Your support makes all the difference.Chris Woakes is not taking his place in the England team for granted despite following up an outstanding summer with an encouraging display in the only warm-up fixture before the one-day series against Bangladesh.
The 27-year-old was on the fringes of the squad earlier this year but an injury to fellow all-rounder Ben Stokes gave him a window of opportunity, one he has not looked back on.
Woakes cemented his place in all formats by winning England's player of the series award in the four Tests against Pakistan, while he excelled with both bat and ball in the shorter formats, too.
The Warwickshire seamer showed how far he has come by bouncing back from leaking 14 runs in his first over to conceding just six from his next four against a Bangladesh Cricket Board Select XI in Fatullah on Tuesday.
He then helped to dry up the run-rate as the hosts threatened to control proceedings at the back end of the innings and finished as the pick of the bowlers with three for 52 before Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali steered England to their victory target of 310 with four wickets to spare.
However, Woakes is not resting on his laurels and knows England have several pace options for the first ODI against the Tigers on Friday, or they could even bring in Liam Dawson after only playing two spinners in Moeen and Adil Rashid against the BCB XI.
The ever-modest Woakes said: "Fingers crossed I'm included, that'll be nice.
"We have quite a big squad here so have plenty of options. We have spinners who could come in and the team that was chosen (against the BCB XI) have performed well so have staked their claim."
England were once again blanketed by heavy security on their 45-minute journey from their team hotel to the ground, with the usually bustling streets cleared for a convoy containing the squad, support staff, high-ranking England and Wales Cricket Board officials and members of the media.
The issue of security has never been far from the surface on this tour - following the terror attack in Dhaka three months ago - and was the reason limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan and opening batsman Alex Hales decided to pull out.
But Woakes claims even their current high level of protection is close to the norm for an England side visiting the subcontinent.
He said: "It's something that you're used to in the subcontinent. We have been to places where it is exactly the same.
"The guys have responded well. The security has been of a real high standard and we've been concentrating on the cricket."
PA.
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