England men’s Test captain Ben Stokes believes no player has made a bigger impact than what Gus Atkinson has made in his first summer of playing Test cricket for the side, adding that he knew the pacer was destined for success in the longer format. Atkinson made his Test debut at Lord’s against West Indies in July and immediately hit an impression by picking a match haul of 12 wickets in James Anderson’s farewell international game. After taking Player of the Series award in England’s 3-0 win over West Indies, Atkinson made it again to the honours boards by taking a five-for and hitting a maiden Test century against Sri Lanka.
“He has been amazing. I earmarked him as someone I thought could be successful at Test cricket on the India tour even though he didn’t play a game. I watched him train for basically two months which is a hard thing to do as a player. He bowls at a high pace, he is a very skillful bowler and he has shown he has got more than just running in and bowling it fast.
“Seeing him bat before, I knew he had potential, and that 100 he got at Lord’s, to say I wasn’t surprised is a bit of an overstatement, but I have always known he has talent with the bat. He has shown the world and himself what he is capable of with bat in his hand. For your first summer in Test cricket, I can’t remember there being a bigger impact.
“Thirty-something wickets and a Test hundred at Lord’s is pretty amazing. He has been awesome for us. It proves that if you see someone with a bit of talent, with the skillset and armoury he has as a player, and tell them to go out and express themselves and be who they want to be, it is amazing what results you can get from that,” said Stokes to Sky Sports.
England are looking to complete a clean sweep in their Test matches held this summer when they face Sri Lanka in the final match of their series starting at The Oval on Friday.
Stokes, who is recuperating from a hamstring injury, believes the side has it in them to complete a winning clean sweep in Test match results.
“It would be great to finish off the summer with another win and say we have won all six games we have had this summer. A summer of Test cricket is hard, six games is a lot. We feel like we have been pretty compact and there hasn’t been too much break between the games.
“Winning six Test matches in one summer is no mean feat, so it would be great to finish off the summer in the last match against Sri Lanka with a win,” concluded.
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