Nerves, what nerves? Gus Atkinson makes Lords history | England v Sri Lanka 2024

It was one of those situations that most spectators, and anyone too empathetic, simply and completely misunderstand. Gus Atkinson ended day one unbeaten on 74 and had looked phenomenal with the bat in dragging England, with the remarkable assistance of Joe Root, from 216 for six to an overnight score of 358 for seven. A maiden first-class century felt within reach, but first he had almost 15 hours of downtime to deal with.

It was impossible not to imagine a restless evening, a night of interrupted, restless sleep, a tight fist of tension nestling in his belly all morning, swelling, squeezing, and twisting sadistically, and that after all this it was a kind of triumph to drag his body to the edge, prospects ruined by the ripe potential of the moment and by having to think about it for so long.

Clearly, these are thought processes not conducive to sporting success, and Atkinson apparently did not endure them. When the wait was finally over and his hunt for a hundred was resumed by Lahiru Kumara early on day two, he pushed the first ball down the leg side for four and followed that up with an immaculate cover drive that took him to 80.

By the time the over was over he had also been given an lbw – adjudged successful, the ball on course to comfortably miss leg stump, Hawk-Eye’s prediction greeted with puffs of air on the England balcony – and sent an inside edge just past his stumps, but it was clear that Atkinson was in no way weakened.

Sri Lanka were sloppy again, as they had been in the final session of the first day. Lord’s may be known for its exorbitant entrance fee, but in the middle there were freebies, bowlers offering modest invitations to let the ball whiz across a lightning-fast outfield. Atkinson added four more boundaries and a few clips for the highlights film before reaching his century, capped by a drive past mid-off that took him to 103 from 103 balls, and a few balls later he absolutely pulled, again off Kumara, with great class and perhaps a hint of disdain. He was on 118 when he was brilliantly caught in the deep by Milan Rathnayake while taking another short ball.

Atkinson’s name will appear on a third Lord’s Honours Board, the 26-year-old having already secured a place on one by taking a five-fer in his first innings as a Test bowler against the West Indies last month, and on a second by taking 10 wickets in that match. He becomes the sixth person to earn a place on all three, and the quickest to do so: Ian Botham also did it in his second match and in the space of one summer, but after six innings to Atkinson’s four; Chris Woakes took three matches and two years; Keith “Nugget” Miller, Australia’s greatest ever all-rounder, nicknamed for his golden touch and the only non-Englishman on the list, took three matches in eight years and had his portrait in the pavilion as an added bonus; and both Stuart Broad and Gubby Allen took four matches.

“You can hardly believe it, the names that have made five points here and scored 100, the great all-rounders,” said Atkinson’s father, Ed, who watched from a box on the Grand Stand alongside Stephen Fry and Mark Nicholas, the MCC’s past and present presidents, as his son reached the three-figure score.

Within minutes of his dismissal, Atkinson was back and prepared to provide a few nuggets of his own, though he was less successful and excusable in the circumstances. He opened the bowling but was replaced from the attack after just three overs, and although he returned to take the wicket of Dinesh Chandimal, cleverly caught by Dan Lawrence at leg gully, Milan Rathnayake hit three of the next four balls for four and Atkinson then saw off the next 30 overs. His second wicket of the innings ended it, but his fatigue probably influenced England’s decision not to enforce the follow-on.

Atkinson’s golden summer is symptomatic of the extraordinary hit rate England have enjoyed with new bowlers since the arrival of Brendon McCullum as coach in 2022. In the previous decade, 21 bowlers had made their debut, with two, Toby Roland-Jones and Adil Rashid, taking five-fers in their first games, 9.5% of the total. That was roughly in line with the long-term trend of 8.8% in the 50 years to 2022. Since then, the figure has been 45.5%, with Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed and Josh Tongue all doing it and Atkinson managing it twice.

Of the remaining six, Matt Potts scored four and Jamie Overton scored a decisive 97. As Atkinson’s innings showed, this England team may not have ruled out mistakes, but they certainly appear to have rattled some nerves.