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Is Woakesy playing for the Bears from the first game? I've seen some comments suggesting he's playing franchise cricket in the Pakistan Super League for the first month??

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He's played for us pre season so id assume so fitness permitting.

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Right. I googled this last night and it does seem that he's playing PSL which will go until April end. Seems very inconsistent with playing a full load of pre-season here though and the tournament starts tomorrow with his team's first game on Saturday. He's leaving it late to arrive...

white-lightning wrote:

Is Woakesy playing for the Bears from the first game? I've seen some comments suggesting he's playing franchise cricket in the Pakistan Super League for the first month??

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He’s certainly signed up. Money talks.

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I can't find anything about him in any of the PSL squads. Not even sure he entered the auction.

Maybe has been signed as a replacement player.

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There's plenty on Facebook about him having signed for Peshawar Zalmi for 2026; but I agree that he doesn't appear to be in their squad.

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I'm hoping he plays mainly for the Bears. We need him for bowling and batting.

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Having re-Googled seems all the sources are quite unreliable. Also seems the tournament itself is on quite shaky ground with actions in the gulf, limited venues, no spectators etc. I'd be quite confident of him playing CC now.

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From BBC Sport:
"Pakistan's T20 league will start without crowds and take place at only two venues because of the fuel crisis that has resulted from the US and Israel's war with Iran.
"The [Pakistan] Prime Minister [Shehbaz Sharif] has requested restricted movements of people because of the fuel crisis so we have decided that the PSL (Pakistan Super League) would continue as per the original schedule but without crowds," said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
"All PSL matches will now take place in Lahore and Karachi and we hope the league could be held with crowds but that would be contingent on the crisis in Iran ending."
The opening ceremony on Thursday has also been cancelled,"

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Good interview with Woakes here:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/woakes-love-for-the-grind-is-warwickshire-gain-in-post-test-return-1529433?fbclid=IwVERDUAQ0PBFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEer0QVmd-GMr5SFBO4Xm07mjI6LSIVfBWTee4w5-RQjnyWH4WmRFch4M6WQ1Y_aem_8XobyhG-xQMbtRuYu3EE_w

He turned down the chance to play in the PSL and it sounds like he’s ready to give it all in the championship!

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That's a great interview, in which Chris says everything we could have wanted him to say.
When I said, a few posts ago, that money talks, I was (not for the first time) talking nonsense.

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He has a young family, in the current political situation, nobody in their right mind would choose to visit a country bordering Iran, unless it was totally essentiaL.

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Heartening to hear how commited he was both to Warwickshire and the county championship. Did say he was still having issues with the shoulder he dislocated, seems like it won't be a complete recovery and he won't be diving around in the field for fear he does it again.

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George Dobell has an interview with Chris that covers much the same ground as the Cricinfo interview. He does say something about how Rob Key ended his international career:
He admits he was, at the time, underwhelmed by Rob Key's comments in a press conference where he somewhat bluntly said Woakes was no longer in the thoughts of the England selectors "at all". But there are big smiles when he talks about it now.
"That's the way Keysey is," he says benevolently. "Sometimes things slip out, and probably not quite the way he means it. I spoke to him. He said, 'I didn't mean it to come out the way it came out'
"Look, I'm not fussed. I'm not going to kick off about it. But yeah, it probably didn't come across the way I'd have put it across."