Rumours were circulating around St John’s Wood on Sunday evening that Lord’s was planning to name its honours boards after Gus Atkinson, as England had won the second Test match against Sri Lanka – and the series – with a day to go.
Not content with a technically perfect century from the eighth hole on Friday morning, Atkinson overcame the tourists’ resistance on the fourth afternoon to finish with five for 62, continuing his first golden summer in Test cricket, which will culminate this week on home turf at the Oval.
Add to that the 12 wickets he took here on his debut against the West Indies in July and he may soon be claiming copyright over the dressing room placards celebrating international excellence in the home of cricket.
Remarkably, Atkinson became only the third Englishman to score a hundred and claim a five-for in the same Test, after Tony Greig and Ian Botham, who accomplished the feat five times. And by taking his haul to 33 in just five matches, he has shattered the English record for most wickets in a first Test summer — 29, set by Fred Trueman in 1952. Even Fred would have admitted that Atkinson looks half-decent.
It took something astonishing to keep the player of the match award away from Joe Root, whose double hundred took him beyond Alastair Cook as England’s leading Test centurion. But Atkinson managed it, making crucial breakthroughs with an unresponsive old ball as Sri Lanka threatened to dig in, then sweeping the tail aside with the new.
Gus Atkinson took five wickets in 16 thrilling overs as England defeated Sri Lanka on Sunday
Atkinson now has 33 wickets in just five matches – a new English record for most wickets in a first Test summer
Those who stayed away – and Lord’s was dishearteningly empty on a glorious late-summer Sunday – missed the performance of a player who not only had to deal with concerns about the length of England’s tail but also showed his all-round prowess with the ball. A piece of the Ashes jigsaw has fallen firmly into place.
Others had their moments. Chris Woakes removed nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya for four after Sri Lanka — needing an impossible 483 — had resumed on 53 for two, and completed a 190-run victory just after 5pm when Lahiru Kumara toiled to mid-on.
Olly Stone beat Dimuth Karunaratne for 55, hitting a leg-side lifter, while Shoaib Bashir outwitted the experienced Angelo Mathews, who was caught at wide mid-off by Woakes for 36.
But not for the first time, Atkinson was the man. Operating from the Pavilion End, he got one back up the slope to Dinesh Chandimal, who had been batting aggressively for 58. The ball went inside and ricocheted off his pad to Dan Lawrence at short leg.
England were even happier in Atkinson’s next over when Kamindu Mendis — Sri Lanka’s star player of the past fortnight — charged hard at Ben Duckett at third slip to take the score to 200 for seven.
An eighth-wicket stand of 73 slowed their progress at both ends of tea, but it was Atkinson who put an end to that too. Now armed with the second new ball, he had Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva through for 50, and Milan Rathnayake pulled through to Jamie Smith for 43.
As promising as Atkinson’s bowling is, so too is his temperament. ‘My first red-ball games at Lord’s went my way,’ he said modestly. ‘I like bowling with the slope. Long may it continue like this.’
Ollie Pope’s heroics ensured he ended another Test week in top position with a second win from two. Victory at the Oval will give England their first clean sweep of a home summer since 2004. And if Pope’s batting looks a mess, he held his own on a lifeless Lord’s surface.
There was only one contender for the Player of the Match award after Atkinson’s dominance
He knows, however, that there is room for improvement. Root bowled three catches, two of them at the crucial first slip position, while Pope’s success rate with DRS — none of eight — was comically poor. Nor will England always benefit from the generosity shown by De Silva on the opening morning, who won the toss on a flat strip and mysteriously elected to bowl.
But Pope’s team dominated from tea on the first day, breaking records along the way. With the emergence of Atkinson and Jamie Smith – and Ben Stokes, Zak Crawley and Mark Wood all returning from injury for the trip to Pakistan next month – they look well placed to build on their summer success.
It was just a shame that so few spectators turned up to witness their latest victory: 9,000, according to MCC, who had little choice but to accept the criticism of their pricing policy.
The cheapest adult seats with unrestricted views quickly cost £80. It is clear that many decided there was little point in risking a fourth-day ticket against opponents that England were expected to sweep aside.
New England star Atkinson posed for photos with fans to cap off a hugely successful home Test summer
It didn’t help that the Test here in July against West Indies lasted less than seven sessions. Bazball England are a team that does things quickly. The fans have caught on.
Whatever the reasons, it was sobering for the Test format to think back to the capacity crowd that had turned out for the final day of the Hundred Final two weeks earlier.
Test cricket still pays the bills in this country, and the players still regard it as the pinnacle. But on a day when the Test side had made it five wins in a row – not to mention 19 of the 28 since Stokes teamed up with Brendon McCullum – it was a reminder not to take anything for granted.