WARRIOR WOAKES LEFT IN AGONY

Brave Chris cannot stop India winning cliffhanger

- By Mike Walters

LOOK beyond the gut-wrenching heartbreak of defeat by only a six-hit and dry your eyes.

England's agony at The Oval, in an unrivalled 56 minutes of spine-tingling drama and hiding behind the sofa, nailed the myth that Test cricket could be eclipsed as a spectacle by The Hundred.

As the sloggers' feast begins at Lord's today with London Spirit and Oval Invincibles, none of the hired hands haggling over 16.4 overs of bragging rights will come close. No one could rival one-arm bandit Chris Woakes' 16-minute defiance that went beyond the call of duty in the final Test.

It was England's bravest last stand since Colin Cowdrey marched out to face West Indies pace terrors Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith with his broken arm in plaster at Lord's in 1963.

Like Woakes, Cowdrey did not have to face a ball.

Do not blame England's batting for the series that got away. There is a reason why only nine teams have scored 374 or more to win a Test it is bloody hard graft.