There was not a great deal of encouragement from the Lord’s pitch and a thin crowd made for a slightly sleepy Sunday. But by 5pm, after another five-wicket haul from the soaring comet that is Gus Atkinson, England had sealed a series win against Sri Lanka and set up the prospect of their first perfect Test summer for 20 years.
Not since 2004, when New Zealand and West Indies were swept aside by Michael Vaughan’s men, have England won every Test in a home season. Although they play one fewer these days, a 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka – secured with a 190-run victory in this second Test – to follow the 3-0 win against West Indies still presents a rare opportunity. Ollie Pope, two wins from two as stand-in captain but personally light on runs, will welcome the return to the Oval this week.
Like the Vaughan vintage, this is an England side hoping to build towards a climax down the line; a work in progress, rather than the finished article. They have refreshed their team – not least the bowling attack – and even with three first‑choice players lost to injury this series – Ben Stokes, Zak Crawley and Mark Wood – maintained winning ways. Their opponents this summer may sit on the wrong side of the sport’s titled global economy, but credit is still due.
It helps to have a batting galactico, of course, and Joe Root, the only ever‑present these past two years, was pretty celestial at Lord’s. Beyond the twin hundreds that took him to 34 overall and knocked Alastair Cook down to second on the list of Test centuries by an Englishman, most encouraging was the assertion that, aged 33 and out the other side of captaincy, there are plenty more miles left on the clock.
This match was also a continuation of Atkinson’s remarkable start to life as a Test cricketer. His 118 from No 8 in the first innings was no gunslinger’s knock by a chancy tailender, rather the crisp and proficient innings of a genuine batter. Beyond the peroxide tipped hair – perhaps a tribute to the pint of Guinness sunk by Anderson at the end of his farewell Test – he has proved to be unshowy and steely in character.
Back in the day job, Atkinson also maintained his hot own streak of claiming at least two wickets per innings since his debut in July. On a fourth day when wickets needed to be chiselled out – and Sri Lanka delivered a spirited performance that would have been far handier the first time around – with his figures of five for 62 from 16 overs the tourists were bowled out for 292 in 86.4 overs in their pursuit of an unlikely 483 to win.
After Chris Woakes had wrapped up the win by inducing a top-edge from Lahiru Kumara it was Atkinson, not Root, who was player of the match. The champagne was well earned, too, with Atkinson only the third England cricketer to score a century and claim a five-wicket haul in the same Test after Tony Greig and Ian Botham (even if Lord Beefy will doubtless point out he did it five times). Either way, the person who updates the Lord’s honours boards can probably etch Atkinson’s name with their eyes shut.
In truth, the result was already a formality at the start of play – one reason, to go with ticket prices, for the lack of walk-ups – and it was a case of how long the final eight wickets would take.
The Final Wickets Fall
The tourists did muster three battling half-centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne (55), Dinesh Chandimal (58) and Dhananjaya de Silva (50) but every time a partnership crystallised out in the middle and thoughts of a possible return on Monday percolated, Pope and his men found a way to shatter it.
The morning had signposted the need for patience and once Woakes saw off Prabath Jayasuriya, the bad‑light hawk, it took an extra bit of grunt from Olly Stone to deliver the second with an 87.2mph delivery speared into Karunaratne’s armpit that was gloved behind. Stone ended his comeback Test with four wickets and having clanged a few helmets while deputising for Wood, his reputation was enhanced.
Shoaib Bashir performed a solid role for Pope as the afternoon unfolded, his removal of Angelo Mathews for 36 – around the wicket, teasing a chip to mid-off with some extra air – reducing Sri Lanka to 174 for five.
Thereafter it was all about Atkinson. Already one to the good from the previous evening, he wiped out the well-set Chandimal and in-form Kamindu Mendis with the old ball before tea and then returned to nip out two more after its replacement came out.
Atkinson's Rising Star
So unlike a number of London cabbies, the series now heads south of the river to discover whether England can make it six from six. For Atkinson, 33 wickets and a century from his first five Tests, this summer is already touching perfection.
Rumours circulated in St John's Wood on Sunday night that Lord's were planning to rename their honours boards after Gus Atkinson as England won the second Test against Sri Lanka — and the series — with a day to spare.
Not content with completing a technically perfect century from No 8 on Friday morning, Atkinson blew away the tourists' resistance on the fourth afternoon to finish with five for 62 and continue a golden first summer in Test cricket that will culminate this week on home turf at the Oval.
Throw in the 12 wickets he took here on debut against West Indies in July, and he may soon be claiming copyright on the dressing-room boards that famously celebrate international excellence at 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 achieved the feat five times. And by taking his haul to 33 in only five games, he has smashed the England record for most wickets in a maiden Test summer — 29, by Fred Trueman back in 1952. Even Fred might have conceded Atkinson looks half-decent.
It needed something astonishing to keep the player of the match award away from Joe Root, whose twin hundreds took him past 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 brushing aside the tail with the new.
The Empty Stands Tell a Tale
Those who stayed away — and Lord's was dispiritingly empty on a glorious late-summer Sunday — missed the performance of a player who has not only dealt with concerns about the length of England's tail, but has shown off his all-round prowess with the ball. A piece in the Ashes jigsaw has slotted 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 wrapped up a 190-run victory just after 5pm when Lahiru Kumara slogged to mid-on.
Olly Stone bounced out Dimuth Karunaratne for 55, gloving a lifter down the leg side, while Shoaib Bashir out-thought the experienced Angelo Mathews, 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 to come back down the slope to Dinesh Chandimal, who had batted aggressively for 58. The ball took the inside edge, and ricocheted off his pad to Dan Lawrence at short leg.
England were even more jubilant in Atkinson's next over when Kamindu Mendis — Sri Lanka's batting star this past fortnight — flashed hard to Ben Duckett at third slip to make it 200 for seven.
An eighth-wicket stand of 73 slowed their progress either side of tea, but it was Atkinson who ended that, too. Now armed with the second new ball, he had Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva playing on for 50, and Milan Rathnayake bottom-edging a pull through to Jamie Smith for 43.
As promising as Atkinson's bowling is his temperament. 'My first red-ball games at Lord's have gone my way,' he said modestly. 'I enjoy bowling with the slope. Long may it continue.'
His heroics allowed Ollie Pope to end another testing week in the top job with a second win out of two. Victory at the Oval will give England their first clean sweep in a home summer since 2004. And if Pope's batting looks a mess, he stuck to his guns well on a lifeless Lord's surface.
He knows, though, that there is room for improvement. Root dropped three catches, two in the vital position of first slip, while Pope's success rate with DRS — none out of eight — was comically bad. Neither will England always benefit from the generosity shown on the opening morning by De Silva, who won the toss on a flat strip and mystifyingly chose to bowl.
But Pope's team dominated from tea on the first day, and broke records along the way. With the emergence of Atkinson and Jamie Smith — and Ben Stokes, Zak Crawley and Mark Wood all set to return from injury for next month's trip to Pakistan — they look well placed to build on their summer success.
It was just a shame there were so few spectators to witness their latest win — 9,000, according to MCC, who had little choice but to take criticism of their pricing policy on the chin.
With the cheapest adult seats for a non-restricted view costing as much as £80, it is clear many decided there was little value in risking fourth-day tickets against opponents England were expected to brush aside.
It didn't help, either, that the July Test here against West Indies failed to last even seven sessions. Bazball England are a team who do things in a hurry. The fans have cottoned on.
Whatever the reasons, it was sobering for the Test format to reflect on the full house that had turned up here a fortnight earlier for Hundred finals day.
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 made it five wins in a row — not to mention 19 out of 28 since Stokes teamed up with Brendon McCullum — this was a reminder to take nothing for granted.
