Born on March 2, 1989, Chris Woakes made his First-Class debut against a touring West Indies 'A' side for Warwickshire in Birmingham in August 2006. Two years later, he made headlines by topping the bowling charts for his side in the season, picking up 42 wickets at an average of 20.57. His fine performances got him an entry into the England Lions side and also a place in the preliminary 2009 World T20 squad.

In the same year, Woakes was near unplayable against the West Indies, bagging 6/43 in the first innings, bowling for the England Lions in a warm-up match. He is not just all about taking wickets with the ball, Woakes, is a very handy batsman too. He has a few First-Class centuries to his credit, with the most notable being an unbeaten 131 against Hampshire. During the course of that innings, he also shared a mammoth 222-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Jonathan Trott. His first international appearance came in the shortest format of the game, a T20I between England and Australia in January 2011. Woakes made his ODI debut against Australia in Sydney in 2011. Exactly a week later, on January 30, he registered his career-best figures of 6/45 against Australia in Brisbane.