Ben Stokes reviews the summer: 'Greatest' Joe Root, 'amazing' Gus Atkinson and Ollie Pope's captaincy

England red-ball captain Ben Stokes believes no player has made a bigger impact than Gus Atkinson has in his first summer of Test cricket.

Atkinson made his debut at Lord’s against West Indies in July and immediately made his mark, taking seven wickets for just 45 runs as Jimmy Anderson’s final hurrah got under way.

The wickets (and runs) then just kept coming for the Surrey seamer as he added his name to the honours boards at Lord’s with a 12-wicket match haul in that Test and followed up with a five-for and maiden Test century against Sri Lanka.

With that latter feat he joined an exclusive club as Vinoo Mankad and Ian Botham are the only other players to have taken a five-fer and scored a century in the same Test.

For Stokes, Atkinson has produced the performances that having belief in someone’s talent can have.

“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,” Stokes told Sky Sports.

“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 skilful 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.”

Root ‘the greatest ever’

There have also been standouts moments from the experienced players this summer, including Joe Root breaking Alastair Cook’s record for the most Test centuries for England with his 34th at Lord’s.

As the runs and records continue to pile up for Root, Stokes believes the Yorkshireman is England’s greatest-ever batter.

“He is an amazing player. I don’t think there is much more I can say about him, I have pretty much done all the superlatives with Joe in the 10 or 12 years I have played with him,” said Stokes.

“The thing about Joe is he is so unselfish, he puts the team first in whatever decision-making there is throughout a Test match or even throughout a series.

“He is just awesome. He is England’s greatest-ever batter and it is going to be hard to find another one like him for a very long time.

“Harry Brook maybe could do what he has done, but what Joe has achieved in the game is absolutely amazing and there is plenty more to come.

“That record of the most Test runs by a player is getting closer and closer.”

Pope has been a positive captain

With Stokes out injured, Ollie Pope has stepped into the captain’s role for the Sri Lanka series, leading the side to two victories to go 2-0 up in the series, but he has struggled with his own batting.

Pope scored just 12 runs over two innings at Emirates Old Trafford, then just 17 runs across the two innings at Lord’s, failing also on his eight occasions of using DRS as skipper.

However, Stokes believes Pope has been a very positive stand-in captain and noted that people have been quick to forget his triumphs with the bat, the 26-year-old picking up the player-of-the-match award in the final Test of the West Indies series with scores of 121 and 51 in the 241-run win at Trent Bridge.

“I think he [Pope] has been great,” said Stokes. “There is always the potential that something might happen to the captain, I had it with Joe [Root] and Covid when he wasn’t in for the game against West Indies and I stood up for that.

“I think Popey has done a brilliant job.

“We are 2-0 up, we have been put under pressure at different times in the series against Sri Lanka and I think the way that Popey has reacted to those situations and wrestled momentum back into the game is something he has done really well.

“He has taken the positive option when it comes to any decision-making around the field and I think he has done really well in his first two games in charge.

“I think everybody forgot he got two 50s and a 100 against West Indies.”

Training is limited after hamstring injury

Stokes has not played in the series against Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury he picked up in The Hundred, pulling up while running for the Northern Superchargers.

Despite being involved in some training, Stokes says he is very early days in his recovery from a “limiting” injury, but is pleased to have still been around the squad.

“It is going well. Look, it is only three weeks since I had the injury, it is very limiting in terms of what I can do,” Stokes said.

“My training is very limited, it is only throw-downs and work on the front foot.

“It is a little bit frustrating, a little bit annoying. Hamstring is a bit of a boring rehab, there is not much you can do.

“It has been nice to stay around and be around the group and watch the way we have gone about things in these first two games.”

Six wins out of six? No easy feat

England are looking to complete a Test clean sweep this summer when they face Sri Lanka in the final match of their series from Friday, live on Sky Sports.

With a 3-0 victory over West Indies, and another whitewash against Sri Lanka on the cards, Stokes believes it cannot be understated how tough a task that is to complete.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Watch the third and final Test of the series between England and Sri Lanka at The Oval, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Friday September 6 (first ball, 11am).

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