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England made a bold decision at the start of the summer, forcing the retirement of James Anderson in favour of a younger and relatively untested seam attack. But on the second day of the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka, they reaped the rewards.
Olly Stone was handed an England recall, and finished with two wickets, while Gus Atkinson continued his stellar summer. His brilliant century ensured his name would be on all three honours boards at Lord’s after just two Test matches at the Home of Cricket, and he followed it up with two wickets.
In the fifth and final Test of last summer’s Ashes at the Oval last summer, England’s bowlers had 1,751 wickets between them, largely shared by Anderson and Stuart Broad. But a little over 12 months later, the two stalwarts of the last decade have retired and those chosen to lead the attack at Lord’s had 257 wickets, of which Chris Woakes had 166.
It was a bold call, like many made in the Bazball era of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, but as with so many others, it has paid off. Atkinson has eased into Test cricket, taking 12 wickets on his debut with figures that eclipsed Anderson in his final one. At Lord’s on day two, he resumed having been 74 not out overnight, and quickly brought up his maiden hundred.
Having never reached three figures before, his highest previous total had come for Surrey against a Sri Lanka development XI at Beckenham in 2022, he looked every part an all-rounder at Lord’s two years later.
“It's very surreal! I've always thought of the Lord's honours board growing up and pictured myself up there for my bowling, so it's incredible to see myself up there with the bat! I couldn't ask for more,” Atkinson told Test Match Special.
"I didn't sleep that well last night! I don't think I was under that much pressure, I was happy to score 70! Obviously I was thinking about the hundred and then when I woke up, all I could think about was getting back out there and batting. Hopefully I can get a good night's sleep tonight!
"I've always had a lot of belief in my batting. But everything just clicked today really, I felt really good and hitting the ball cleanly. It's just one of those days. Hopefully I can remember what I did today and yesterday, and take it forward."
There had been questions at the start of the summer as to how England would replace Anderson, but with Atkinson, they might have found a player more in the mould of a young Broad, capable with bat and ball.
Injuries have already had an impact, Olly Stone was called up in place of the injured Mark Wood, with Woakes moved up the order because of an injury to captain Stokes. England’s depth of young fast bowling talent, which has looked sparse at times in the last few years, now appears extensive.
Dillon Pennington was called up for the West Indies series and is also injured, along with Josh Tongue who impressed at the start of the 2023 summer against Ireland.
On the first day of the Test, Joe Root and Atkinson inspired an England recovery from 216 for six, and on the morning of the second day, they were finally bowled out for 427.
Sri Lanka struggled in their reply, with Stone taking two quick wickets in his third Test match, finishing the day with two for 70.
Matthew Potts was reliable without being expensive, and halfway through the afternoon session, Sri Lanka were battling to save the match at 87 for six, having been 83 for three.
Potts, Woakes, Atkinson and Stone all finished the second day with two wickets apiece as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 196, 231 runs behind England’s first-innings total.
Ollie Pope, whose captaincy has come under question, made an awful decision to review a caught behind earlier in the day, and late in the day chose not to enforce the follow-on, with England finishing the day 25 for one, with a lead of 256.
Dan Lawrence, who is opening the batting for England in place of the injured Zak Crawley, has been unconvincing and was the only player to lose their wicket, trapped lbw for just seven.
The West Indies and Sri Lanka will offer arguably a softer challenge for the new generation of fast bowlers than India, who visit next summer, or the overseas Ashes the following winter, but it has been an important test, that so far they have passed.
