England debutant Gus Atkinson stole the spotlight on day one of the Test series opener against the West Indies, upstaging James Anderson’s farewell with a seven-wicket haul at Lord’s.
The 26-year-old claimed 7-45, the second-best bowling figures by an English player on Test debut, as the West Indies were rolled for 121 in overcast conditions on Wednesday.
The hosts were 3-189 at stumps with a lead of 68 after opener Zak Crawley (76) and vice-captain Ollie Pope (57) cracked fifties, with West Indies paceman Jayden Seales snaring two wickets.
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“I was a bit nervous this morning,” Atkinson told reporters at stumps.
“I woke up and all I could think about was the day ahead. I was emotional.
“I tried to keep as level as possible but my dad was saying, ‘This is the biggest day of your life’. I just said, ‘Relax, I’m trying not to think like that’.
“He’s a big cricket fan, so to make him proud and make my family proud is very special. Walking through the Long Room at the end and seeing him there was pretty cool. If you could ask me what I want in a day, that would be pretty close to the top.”
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All eyes were on Anderson, playing his 188th and final Test match, before play commenced on Wednesday — daughters Lola and Ruby rang the five-minute bell as the 41-year-old veteran led his teammates onto the field for the national anthems.
But after Anderson produced a tidy, albeit ineffective, opening spell from the Pavilion End, Atkinson stole the spotlight.
The Surrey quick only needed two balls to unearth his maiden Test wicket, breaking a 34-run opening partnership after West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite swatted at a wide delivery and chopped back onto his stumps.
Later in the same spell, Atkinson found the outside edge of Kirk McKenzie’s bat with a gorgeous wobble-seam delivery that decked away from the left-hander.
Returning after the lunch break, Atkinson claimed a triple-wicket maiden to rip through the West Indies’ middle order, sparking a frantic collapse of 6-18 in 26 deliveries.
The right-armed seamer, playing his first red-ball game at Lord’s, finished with the best bowling figures by an England debutant since Dominic Cork’s 7-43 against the West Indies in 1995.
However, the loudest cheer of the day came when Anderson hooped a full delivery into the pads of tailender Jayden Seales, with his 701st Test wicket wrapping up the innings.
Atkinson, who exceeded 145km/h during his first spell, is relentlessly accurate and capable of moving the ball in both directions, through the air and off the pitch. He expertly exploited the Lord’s slope with various scrambled-seam deliveries, which proved an effective weapon in the first innings.
“My stock ball is that scrambled seam, it felt like today, bowling with the slope, bowling from the Pavilion End, that was my most dangerous ball,” Atkinson continued.
“I was targeting fourth stump and trying to run it down the hill and with the left-handers I was trying to push it across them with the odd in-swinger. I felt like that was the best way I could get wickets.
“The seam was probably a bit more scrambled than I’d like, but that is something I can work on.
“I feel like I can bowl quicker and hit the pitch harder when I bowl scrambled seam and it’s worked pretty well for me in the past.”
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Atkinson’s breakout performance comes at the perfect time for English cricket, which is undergoing a reset with one eye on the 2025/26 Ashes series in Australia.
Anderson and Stuart Broad have announced their retirement, Ollie Robinson has copped the axe, while Chris Woakes is no longer considered a genuine threat on Australia’s hard wickets.
However, England’s scouting system has unearthed a genuine Ashes threat in Atkinson, who could form a dangerous bowling attack alongside Mark Wood, Matthew Potts and Jofra Archer in 18 months.
“Gus Atkinson looks the real deal,” former England captain Michael Vaughan said.
“He bowled with good zip and pace at the first time of asking.
“We know England are looking for pace. If you want to win a five-match series against India or Australia, you’re probably going to need five quicks that you can rotate.
“The hope for England by next summer is that they’ve got a group of bowlers that you don’t know who you’re going to leave out.”
The first Test between England and the West Indies will resume on Thursday at 8pm AEST.