Woakes has received some punishing treatment in the Twenty20 Cup

Warwickshire captain Ian Westwood says he is confident seamer Chris Woakes will rediscover his form after a bad start to the Twenty20 Cup.

Woakes, 20, made an impressive England Lions debut earlier this season.

But his form for Warwickshire this summer has not been so good and he was thrashed for 64 off 4.4 overs in their first two Twenty20 games.

"I don't think we'll have to protect him," said Westwood. "Every bowler can go round a bit in T20 cricket."

Westwood added: "Chris is struggling a fraction at the moment but you can still throw him the ball and I'm sure he'll come right pretty soon."

Woakes topped Warwickshire's bowling averages in last year's Championship in his first full season.

He was called up for the England Lions game against the West Indies tourists at the end of April and took the first six wickets on his way to match figures of 8-84.

It has been harder going in the Warwickshire team this season as Woakes has led a struggling attack.

He returned six wickets at an average of 57 from their first three Championship games, as the Bears twice conceded over 600.

He also managed only six wickets in seven Friends Provident Trophy appearances as the Bears narrowly missed out on a place in the quarter-finals.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version