Cricket sensation Chris Woakes is a cheetah

By Andy Walker on Jun 30, 08 11:22 AM

NICKNAMES are commonplace in sport and a quick scan down the club profile of Warwickshire's teenage sensation Chris Woakes shows that he's not without his own alternative tag or two.

Being dubbed 'Woaksy' or 'Jokes' is fairly understandable given his surname but the 19-year-old is also interestingly known as 'Cheetah'.

So does that mean that he's known for his pace in the field?

Or does he bear down on his batting prey like a wildcat homing in on a hapless gazelle?

Well, as Mercury Sport found out recently, the nickname doesn't relate to his physical attributes - it's because his teammates once thought he looked like a cheetah!

The bizarre comparison happened during a 2005 tour to Cape Town in South Africa with Warwickshire's Academy where the Bears' rising stars took a day trip to a cheetah farm.

"James Ord reckoned that I looked like one of the cheetahs at the farm and the name stuck," said a puzzled Woakes.

"It's so random, I wish it was something to do my speed." At least it's safari so good for Woakes after a purrfect start to his Warwickshire career.