Chris Woakes is hoping to move up the Warwickshire batting order after hitting his maiden first-class century. Woakes, 20, reached 131 before the Bears declared in their first innings against Hampshire in the Championship. The fast-bowler finished 2008 as the Bears' leading wicket-taker despite being only a teenager. Woakes told BBC WM: "Batting is part of my game I want to get better at. I've learned a lot more about my shot selection, and it's helped me a lot." Birmingham-born Woakes has already had an eventful summer. He was called up to England Lions side to face the West Indies, taking an impressive 4-26. But his early season county form was disappointing, particularly in the Twenty20 Cup. Since then, Woakes has built his confidence and worked on his game, and was delighted to build up a partnership with Jonathon Trott to get his maiden first-class century. He added: "Trotty batted extremely well, and set-up a platform for the lower order batsmen to come in and score some runs. "I was pleased to get to 50, and to get past the career best is also a big bonus for me." Woakes was well down the batting order at number nine, but Warwickshire director of cricket Ashley Giles has said his future lies at six or seven. "If I was given a chance to bat further up the order, I'd be delighted," said Woakes.
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