How Chris Woakes and Mark Wood inspired a comeback for the ages

In a series where batting approach was a major talking point, it was two bowlers - Chris Woakes and Mitchell Starc - who bagged the Ashes' Player of the Series awards. While Woakes was England's best player in the series-levelling win at the Oval, his best mate Mark Wood powered them to a much-needed win at Headingley to keep the series alive. 

Interestingly, none of them played the first two Tests where Australia, although narrowly, got the better of the home side. Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum relied on their regulars in the first two Tests. Prior to the Ashes, Woakes had not played a Test in 16 months. It seemed England had moved on from him because of his poor overseas record.

On the contrary, Wood had enjoyed bowling outside England and his home numbers were not good enough to earn him a spot in the first-choice XI. So the move of drafting them in the team for the third Test was a sign of England's desperation. They were 2-0 down and one wrong move would have led them to an Ashes series loss at home for the first time since 2001. But England took a punt.

Woakes returned a crucial three-wicket haul in his comeback innings that included the scalp of Mitchell Marsh who was taking the game away with his counterattack. The right-arm seamer got Marsh again in the second innings and also accounted for the wicket of Usman Khawaja, Australia's top-scorer in that innings. 

A solid lower-order batter, Woakes scored a vital 32* in a tricky 250-plus chase. But a six-fer and a match-winning knock down the order weren't enough to fetch him a Player of the Match award. Because Wood absolutely demolished Australia with the ball and also with the bat.

The series' leading run-getter - Khawaja - getting castled after being beaten by Wood's pace was one of the moments of the Ashes. Wood picked up a fifer, his first on England soil, and followed it by a vital cameo of 8-ball-24. Quite fittingly, Wood was there with Woakes when England finished the game.

It was Woakes' turn to get a fifer. In the first innings at the Oval, he picked up five for 62 and triggered an Australian collapse. It was Wood who did that in the second innings and England were overwhelming favourites to win the fourth Test until rain started to pour in.

Woakes and Wood combined to get half of England's wickets in the final innings. Australia had a great chance of winning the fifth Test but Woakes had other ideas. He sent both the openers back in the hut to break the game open. It was the fourth time he got Warner in the series and in a series where Stuart Broad retired, Woakes made the Australia opener his frequent victim. 

Playing just three Tests, Woakes finished the series with the best bowling average (19 wickets at 18.14). Wood finished with the second-best bowling strike-rate for England (37.6), only behind Woakes. 

Woakes doesn't know whether he will be part of England's next Test which will take place outside England. Wood doesn't know if he would feature in a home Ashes again. But their captain Ben Stokes stresses on "creating memories" and the duo has succeeded in doing just that.