Former England all-rounder Chris Woakes has showered high praise on Harry Brook and England's ODI side, stating that the team is headed in the right direction and are getting there in terms of role clarity.
Woakes, who retired from international cricket after dislocating his shoulder in the final Test against India at The Oval in 2025, made the comments around the release of his autobiography 'The Wizard' in October 2026. England are currently involved in the Pakistan ODI tri-series, which began on October 18, 2026, with their first match against Pakistan on October 20 at Rawalpindi.
"It feels like they're moving in the right direction with that. It wasn't long ago, with the ODI team in particular, it didn't look great: there was a lot of losses, didn't really have a style. But it feels like now, obviously Brendon [McCullum] fully in charge - and I think he's looking at it as if to say, 'We have a real opportunity and have to make this a priority'. And rightly so, winning World Cups is massive," Woakes said on Cricinfo's Switch-Hit Podcast.
"You look down the team, there's serious players, led by Harry - who I think could easily be England's best-ever batter, he's that good. If he has a tournament like he could, any team could win. It looks like they've got an attack that can take wickets. Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton… Spin, I think they've got options, the ball going both ways. Obviously you've got Adil [Rashid] still going, still doing it really well. He'll have a big role to play," he added.
What does Woakes make of England's current ODI squad?
Woakes was part of the England side that won the 2019 World Cup under Eoin Morgan and has followed the current group closely. He believes the personnel available to Brook represent genuine World Cup quality, pointing to the depth of batting and bowling options in the squad. The side is without Jos Buttler, who is recovering from hamstring surgery, and Jacob Bethell, who has a knee injury.
He also noted that England are making progress on role clarity within the group, saying he thinks they're getting more towards that 'role definition' that proved so important in 2019. He acknowledged that England face a compressed preparation window compared to the build-up to their 2019 World Cup triumph. England played 87 ODIs between the 2015 and 2019 World Cup editions, whereas since finishing seventh at the 2023 World Cup, they have played only 35 ODIs, with 23 of those coming under Brook's captaincy. England have a maximum of 21 more ODI games before the 2027 tournament.
"We were lucky, heading into 2019, we had a lot of ODIs, and we'd won a lot of games. We'd played a hell of a lot, we'd been through every scenario, so we were kind of ready for it. This team probably aren't going to have the same amount, which doesn't mean that they can't go on to win it, it just means their role clarity, they need to define that a little bit quicker," Woakes said.
When did Woakes first identify Brook as a standout talent?
Woakes has been an admirer of Brook for some time and was asked to pinpoint the moment he first recognised him as an exceptional player. Brook scored 75 in the fourth innings at Headingley during the 2023 Ashes, a knock Woakes cited as an early indicator of his quality. Woakes himself won the Compton-Miller medal as player of that same 2023 Ashes series.
"He just made it look easy. In a chase which was really tricky, in terms of the size of it, playing against Australia, home ground and the way he kept his emotions [in check] - not only the quality of his batting, but kept himself in the zone. There's loads of shots you look at and go 'There's not many people can do that.' I think it's more so seeing a lot of his cricket recently, particularly this summer when, in the Hundred, I was looking at having to play him. I was like 'Oh my god, I'm going to have to play against this guy. He's not on my side.' And you start to think, 'Jeez, this guy is next level.' There's moments when you see some of the shots he's played, he's unbelievable, and when people do things like he's capable of doing, and you see him doing it against serious bowling attacks, you take notice," Woakes said.
Woakes' autobiography covers his international career, including his success across formats and the 2019 World Cup, which he described as his most-cherished memory.
