Gus Atkinson endured multiple false starts to his career but battling back on each occasion has given him extra satisfaction in the wake of his World Cup selection.
Atkinson was dealing with persistent injury setbacks when two members of his age-group at Surrey – Sam Curran and Ollie Pope – were appearing for England and others were making waves on the domestic scene.
Recurring stress fractures in his back in 2017, 2018 and 2019 would have tested the resolve of anyone but Atkinson was able to contextualise an injury that is an occupational hazard for fast bowlers.
He has hardly looked back since his first-team debut in 2020 and his 90mph-plus speeds for Surrey and Oval Invincibles in The Hundred have seen him fast-tracked into England’s preliminary World Cup squad.
The uncapped paceman told the PA news agency: “I never really felt like I was not going to make it.
“I know these things happen with young bowlers and there’s plenty of bowlers who have been through similar stuff so I just knew with my age, stress fractures happen. Each year I just came back stronger.
“I look back and it was a tough time but because I hadn’t experienced playing any professional cricket while I had those injuries, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
“It was just a delay to my career. Those were pretty important years for me, to be honest. It was tough but to be here now, looking forward to a World Cup, it makes it seem ages ago.”
Atkinson admitted the coronavirus pandemic three years ago which shut down most sports or, in cricket’s case, led to a drastically reduced summer schedule was beneficial for his recovery and development.
He said: “Covid, to be honest, actually helped with my back because we didn’t have a full summer of cricket, I had a bit of extra time just to relax. I could push through without the risk of injury.”
A slick, repeatable action is at odds with how fast Atkinson can bowl – he has clocked 95mph in The Hundred – but he is not just a one-trick pony as he possesses a devilish bouncer and several changes of pace.
He has inevitably been likened to Jofra Archer, whose ongoing elbow trouble has effectively hastened Atkinson’s promotion into the England set-up for a white-ball series against New Zealand, starting next week, and the defence of their 50-over World Cup crown in India in October and November.
Atkinson himself shied away from the parallels, saying: “I think that’s really the only comparison – we both have good pace and can make it look quite easy. But I don’t like to get too caught up with that.
“I think I’ve got quite a natural whippy action, a bit of hyper-extension and quite a strong wrist. I’ve improved the momentum in my run-up as well.
“There are a few different factors (in where his pace comes from) but I’d say it’s quite natural to me.”
Atkinson is the joint-leading wicket-taker this year for the Invincibles, with his 10 dismissals in five matches helping them top the men’s group stage, bypassing the eliminator to go directly into Sunday’s final at Lord’s.
The 25-year-old is then likely to make his T20 and ODI bows within the next month before heading to the pressure cooker of a World Cup, where England begin their campaign against the Black Caps on October 5.
It remains to be seen how England deploy their latest pace weapon but with nine group stage fixtures in 38 days in the subcontinent, they will be wary of overextending their other express quick Mark Wood.
Atkinson, who has never been to India before, insisted he has not allowed himself to get carried away, adding: “I’m just trying to focus on The Hundred.
“I’m trying not to look too far ahead. When this is over, I’ll start thinking about the T20s and ODIs. It’s come into my head but I’m not trying to think about it too much.”
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
CWI targets domestic T20 competition in 2025 to identify Caribbean representative(s) for 2028 Olympic Games
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr. Kishore Shallow says plans are already afoot to host a domestic T20 competition next year to determine the Caribbean representative(s) for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Shallow, once again welcoming cricket’s return to the Olympic Games, pointed out that his administration is already in dialogue with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) hierarchy to stage the domestic competition in 2025.
Cricket, which last featured at an Olympic Games in 1900, was always set for a long-awaited return to the global multi-sport showpiece, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year confirmed it and four other sports—baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, and squash—for the LA Games.
“To add cricket to the agenda in the next Olympics is certainly going to be something tremendous, as we did in the Commonwealth Games a couple years ago when we had one of our teams representing the females. We at the time chose our original women’s tournament, and the winner at the time was Barbados, so they represented the region,” Shallow said.
“We anticipate something similar will be done unless they tell us all the teams can come and participate, which would be ideal, but it is unlikely for that to happen,” he added.
Shallow also explained that the CPL champions cannot represent the region at the Olympic Games given that the tournament is franchise-based and involves players from other parts of the world.
As such, he revealed that he has engaged CARICOM leaders regarding plans for a domestic T20 competition from which the winner or top finishers would secure the coveted Olympic Games spot(s).
“We have been in discussion with CPL for them to fund a domestic T20 tournament starting next year. I think Miles Bascombe and his team have already scheduled a window for that next year in 2025. Once we are able to have that tournament, then we can use that to determine which team or teams will participate in the Olympics on behalf of CWI,” Shallow shared.
“We can’t use the CPL as it is now because it’s franchises. But in the domestic tournament that we’re having, which will still have a commercial model to it but not to the extent of CPL, but that will more than likely be territories instead of franchises, so we will be able to identify teams,” he noted.
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