Gus Atkinson declared his first day of Test cricket “more than I could have dreamed of” after he raced to a place on the fabled Lord’s honours board on his debut, taking seven wickets as England bowled West Indies out for 121. Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope both scored half-centuries in the afternoon as the home side eased to 189 for three at stumps to take control of the first Test of the summer.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. I was looking up at the board seeing my figures and just thinking, ‘Wow.’ A very special day,” Atkinson said. “I was a bit nervous this morning. I woke up and all I could think about was the day ahead. I was a bit emotional this morning and then having my family there for my cap presentation – if you could have asked me what I wanted from my day that was pretty close to the top. It was pretty cool. Just to take a five-for is amazing, more than I could have dreamed of.
