To make your Test debut at Lord’s is something quite special. To take seven wickets on that occasion is sensational.
Surrey’s Gus Atkinson (7-45) showed that England’s Test future was in safe hands as he helped the hosts bowl out the West Indies for 121 on the first day of the first Test in the home of cricket.
The 26-year-old joined the prestigious company of Tom Hartley (v India, 2024), Josh Tongue (v Australia, 2023), Rehan Ahmed (v Pakistan, 2023) and Will Jacks (v Pakistan, 2022) among England players to have recently scored five on debut, with Atkinson going two scalps further.
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Atkinson’s seven wickets on the first day at Lord’s
In 12 overs, Atkinson bowled 30 dot balls and took three wickets in four deliveries at one point, leaving the Lord’s crowd stunned. Four overs later, he took two wickets in three balls to the cheers of his teammates and spectators.
It was a scene Atkinson admitted he “couldn’t have even dreamed of” as he was presented with his cap by Surrey team-mate Ollie Pope alongside his family at the gathering.
“I was trying to keep the level as much as possible before and my dad kept saying it was the greatest day of my life,” he said after the match ended.
“I had to tell him to relax because I was trying not to think like that. I was a little nervous at the beginning but after the first few overs I was quite calm.”
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Highlights from day one of the first test between England and West Indies
Atkinson took the first two wickets without conceding a run and then became the fifth player on debut under Ben Stokes to get a five-for. He also tops this list for the fastest Englishman to achieve this feat, doing so in 53 balls.
Earlier this summer, England chief executive Rob Key said he would prioritise bowlers who could offer pace rather than take wickets, but Atkinson has done both.
He finished with the third-best figures for an Englishman on Test debut, conceding two runs more than fast bowler Dominic Cork, who took 7-43, also against the West Indies, in 1995.
Atkinson picked up a wicket with his second ball as he induced a bottom edge from West Indies’ most experienced Test batsman and captain Kraigg Brathwaite (six) which exploded onto the stumps for England’s breakthrough.
He started the day bowling cross-court shots but with the pitch drier than expected he switched to a tighter swinging seam which distributed the left-handers in particular with Kirk McKenzie (one) and Alick Athanaze (23) getting a thick outside edge to Zak Crawley and Jamie Smith respectively.
“My base ball is that scrambled seam, I felt like today, playing with the slope, playing from the Pavilion End, that was my most dangerous ball,” Atkinson added.
“I was aiming for fourth stump and trying to get it down the hill and with the left-handers I was trying to push it through them with a weird in-swinger. I felt like that was the best way to get wickets.
“The stitching was probably a little messier than I would have liked, but it’s something I can work on.
“I feel like I can throw faster and hit the pitch harder when I throw scrambled seams and it has worked pretty well for me in the past.”
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Nasser Hussain and Stuart Broad discuss Atkinson’s dream debut
Having played just 21 first-class games before his Test debut, Atkinson proved that England’s scouting system was a success, a method that utilises and prioritises technology over in-person selection.
The same device was used to discover Somerset off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who, like Atkinson, shone on his India debut earlier this year, leading to his re-selection for this Test.
What Atkinson does with the ball, Harry Brook (25no) does with the bat. The 25-year-old, who missed the tour of India for personal reasons, has returned to the Test fold for the first time since featuring at The Oval against Australia in 2023. The Yorkshireman has made an extraordinary start to his Test career, amassing 809 runs in his first six appearances for England, and looks well placed to carry England further with the bat.
With James Anderson’s exit after the Lord’s Test, there is a changing of the guard as Stokes’ side looks to prepare for the Ashes in 2025, and it is a team that looks not only safe but promising in the hands of the young Englishman.
Watch Day 2 of the First Test between England and West Indies live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10:15 a.m. on Thursday (11 a.m. first ball).
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