Chris Woakes, the England all-rounder, has renewed his commitment towards his home county Warwickshire by penning a new three-year deal. This means he will remain with the club at least till the 2022 season.

“Representing my home county is always a great honour and I’m thrilled to secure this contract extension and to continue to wear the Bear and Ragged Staff until at least 2022,” said Woakes.

Woakes has enjoyed success across all three formats with the club. They won the County Championship in 2012, the One-Day Cup in 2010 and the T20 Blast (as Birmingham Bears) in 2014. Most recently, Woakes played a couple of Championship matches for the club in the 2018 season as they won the division two title and earned a promotion back into the first division.

“We’ve enjoyed a huge amount of success during my time at Edgbaston and the club prides itself on being able to compete strongly across all three formats,” said Woakes.

“Having won promotion back to Division One of the County Championship at the first attempt, and [with] the introduction of several new players in the last couple of years, it’s a very exciting time to be a Bear and I look forward to being part of our challenges for more silverware in the coming years.”

Woakes first played for the senior club in 2006, but his association with the club goes back even longer as he played for their age-group teams. Coach Jim Troughton was delighted about having Woakes remain at the club, even as he acknowledged that Woakes might be occupied with England duties.

“Chris is a true Bear, and everyone at the club takes great pride in the fact that he has come through our development programme to become one of the leading all-rounders in the world game,” he said.

“Whilst we expect Chris to play a major role for England in one of the biggest summers in the game, which includes the ICC Cricket World Cup and the Ashes series, his long-term commitment to the club is a huge boost to Warwickshire and Birmingham Bears as we approach the new season.”