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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Ali Martin

Writing a book with Chris Woakes revealed inner steel of the nicest man in cricket

Chris Woakes and the Guardian’s Ali Martin with a copy of ‘The Wizard’, Woakes’s new autobiography
Chris Woakes (left) and the Guardian’s Ali Martin with a copy of ‘The Wizard’, Woakes’s new autobiography. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

The Spin this week comes from York, where Chris Woakes and I sat down on Monday evening to discuss his new autobiography, The Wizard. There were just shy of 400 international wickets on stage, not a single one mine, and an audience that happened to include one of his old teachers.

It turns out a seemingly clean-cut cricketer was something of a rebel back in the day, with Mr Wager reminding Chris of the time he feigned illness to bunk off school for a long weekend in Newquay with his mates. A bit like Warwickshire’s title win this year that anecdote came too late, frustratingly, for the hardback edition.

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