Woakes the ultimate team man calls time for England

As suspected at the time, Chris Woakes bravely walking out to bat at the Oval in August, arm in a sling, crowd on their feet, was his final act as an England cricketer. Grimacing through the agony of a dislocated shoulder, it made for front page news and a fitting, albeit unwitting, exit.

- Ali Martin

Few Test careers get endings such as Stuart Broad’s mic-drop at the same ground, or the sentimental farewells laid on for Jimmy Anderson or Alastair Cook. But this one suited Woakes: full circle at the scene of his Test debut 12 years earlier and still putting the team first. Aged 36, with the central contract expiring, there was really only one outcome. Though the wise old owl of the post-Anderson attack - entrusted with overseeing its transition at home - the numbers from two previous Ashes tours had made this winter touch and go, even before that shoulder popped.

But those well-documented struggles on the road - arrested a touch last winter, it should be said - are not the epitaph. The career highlights are bucket-list stuff for any cricketer worth their salt, with 192 Test wickets, more than 2,000 Test runs, two white-ball World Cup wins in 2019 and 2022, plus the Compton-Miller medal for player of the series in the 2023 Ashes.