‘He’s making it look quite easy’ - Chris Woakes lauds Gus Atkinson after stunning performance against West Indies at Edgbaston

England pacer Gus Atkinson clinched 12 wickets in his Test debut for England at Lord’s and since then he has been unstoppable. In the third Test at Edgbaston, the 26-year-old picked up four wickets in the first innings which helped the hosts restrict West Indies to 282 runs. In total, he has picked up 20 wickets in the series so far, which is phenomenal given that it is his debut series in red-ball cricket.

His teammate Chris Woakes was elated with Atkinson’s performance and lauded him for getting the job done for the team time and again. He noted that bowling in Trent Bridge wasn’t easy but Atkinson made it look simple as his ability to swing the bowl gave him results so far. 

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“He’s making it look quite easy isn’t he? Credit to him, he has come in and bowled really well. He came in at Lord’s and did fantastically well, got his rewards, and he’s also done it now on back-to-back flat wickets. Trent Bridge was hard work for the seamers last week, especially in the beating sun on day two, but he’s really showcased his skills,” Woakes was quoted as saying by Express and Star.

“He’s got the ability to swing the ball and a good wobble seam, he’s got some pace behind him so he can use the short-ball ploy well. He looks the all-round bowler,” he added.

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Ahead of the series, England captain Ben Stokes called for a pace revolution and Atkinson’s growth would give them confidence keeping Ashes 2025 in mind. Meanwhile, with England leading 2-0 in the series, it was expected for the team management to drop Woakes and give the opportunity to either Dillon Pennington or Matthew Potts. However, they backed Woakes, who revealed that there were no talks as such of him being dropped.

“There was no discussion around that with management. Whenever the captain or coach come to you and say they’re keen for you to play, once you get the nod it’s hard to say you don’t fancy it. I’m just pleased to put three back-to-back Tests together. I probably came in a bit undercooked to the series, I didn’t feel great at Lord’s but as the series has gone on I’ve picked up more rhythm,” Woakes said.