Warwickshire bowler Chris Woakes says he has still got plenty to give to the county that “is in my blood” as he prepares for his first full County season in 14 years.

The 37-year-old announced his international retirement in September following his omission from England’s Ashes squad.

He is now free to play all summer for the county he joined aged 11, playing regularly for the first team from 2008 before beginning his England One-Day and T20 careers in 2011, followed by his Test debut in 2013.

Woakes told BBC Radio WM he likes the idea of being back where it all started: “I think that’s part of the reason why I wanted to do it, really. Whenever it is that I finally exit the game, I was keen to do it the way I came in, so to speak.”

“This club has given me so much, being here since I was eleven. It felt like the right thing for me, the right thing for the club.

“There are no guarantees on how this summer is going to go, but I’m certainly focused and excited by putting in some strong performances and contributing to winning games of cricket.

“I could never see myself playing anywhere else; that was never an option. Warwickshire is in my blood, really”.

Woakes’ 21-year career to date has seen him play 62 Test matches, 122 one-day internationals and 33 T20s for his country.

He’s played 185 first-class matches, bowling almost 32,000 deliveries, taking 628 wickets and scoring 6,804 runs. Woakes says there is still a bit more in the tank:

“I might be stupid, and there’s going to be days this summer when I wake up after bowling 20 sets in a day for none or one wicket and think, ‘What am I doing?’

“There’s a bit of a sadistic approach to it, where part of you enjoys the pain and the hard yards you have to put in to reap the rewards and make the good times feel that much sweeter.

“I’m not quite ready to give all that up just yet.”