Test cricket: Never thought would get to Lord’s honours board for a hundred, says England pacer Gus Atkinson

London: England pacer Gus Atkinson said he never expected his name to be on the Lord’s honours board for making a century in Test cricket. On day two of the ongoing second Test at the Lord’s, Atkinson made 118 – his first Test century, to complete a rare double of making it to the honours board for both bowling and batting performances.

Atkinson previously made the honours board twice in his debut Test against the West Indies in July, where he bagged a five-wicket haul on debut and ended up with a match haul of 12 scalps in what was also James Anderson’s farewell international game.

“It’s amazing. As a boy growing up, I always dreamt of getting on the Lord’s honours board. To be honest, I never thought I’ll be up there for a hundred. So to be up there is special. It’s hard to choose between the two but to score a Test century at Lord’s, it felt like...you’re out there for three hours and whatever.”

“It’s a long process of scoring a hundred. And obviously I’m more of a bowler. So to be up there for batting, it’s very special,” said Atkinson to ECB. Atkinson survived a nervous moment in the 80s when he was trapped lbw by Lahiru Kumara, but managed to get it reversed via review, before reaching his century in 103 balls.

“A bit nervous but not that nervous. Last night I was pretty happy that I had scored 70 and obviously I wanted to go on and score more. Whatever happened, I wouldn’t regret anything the way I played. And I thought I went out and played like the way I played yesterday. If it didn’t work for me, it didn’t. But thankfully it went pretty well,” he added.

With a strong start to his life as a Test cricketer, Atkinson remarked about not being carried away by his early achievements in the longer format. “You try and take these moments, you don’t want to take them for granted.”

“How difficult it is to score a Test hundred and how difficult it is to take 10 wickets, and thankfully it has happened to me quite early. But I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself and I know how hard the game can be. I’m looking forward to the future and hopefully, I’m doing well.” Agencies

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