England bowler Gus Atkinson discusses his extraordinary debut at Lord's Cricket Ground for England getting 7 wickets and England's third best debut figures and how with all attention on Jimmy Anderson their has been less pressure on him.
10/07/2024
Lord's Cricket Ground, London, UK
10/07/2024
Lord's Cricket Ground, London, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00I guess you've had a little bit of time now to process everything. How do you feel? How proud are you today?
00:04I'm very proud. I don't think it's really sunk in yet, to be honest.
00:08I'm sort of looking up at the board and seeing my figures, just thinking, wow.
00:13But no, a very special day.
00:14And of course, there's a lot of talk of Jimmy Anderson all week building up to this.
00:18Did that almost help, you know, on a debut, you're the guy in the frame,
00:23and actually this week maybe you sort of slipped in a little bit under the radar?
00:26I think so.
00:28Obviously, I was still pretty nervous going into it, but yeah, the focus was on Jimmy.
00:33So it was quite nice just to go under the radar a bit
00:36and just focus on performing as best as I could.
00:39Can you tell us what Ben said to you, how he eased you into stuff?
00:44You're the fifth player to get a five on their debut under Ben Stokes.
00:49He clearly knows how to get people eased into this team.
00:52Just sort of go out and do your thing, which is what I tried to do.
00:59Not really too much.
01:00I think if you speak to someone too much, maybe then a bit of pressure starts to kick in.
01:06But no, just go out and do your thing.
01:08And that was it, really.
01:10Was there any point today where you were sort of pinching yourself that it was going so well?
01:13You got two wickets before you conceded a run.
01:16You got three in and over.
01:17You got the five further.
01:18Wickets kept coming.
01:19Did you think...
01:21Could you not believe it was going so well?
01:22Yeah, it was a bit surreal.
01:24I felt like something like that's been coming a while.
01:28For Sarri, I feel like I've been a bit unlucky.
01:30So to come out here today and things go my way was great.
01:35And did today make you feel like you belong in Test cricket?
01:39Yeah, I think so.
01:40Yeah, it was great.
01:41Thanks.
01:41Okay, just sort of from here, and we'll go George and then Will.
01:46Hey guys, this is Biram Qazi from Pro Sports.
01:48First of all, congratulations on a splendid spell.
01:50It's the third best effort ever by an Englishman on Test match debut.
01:54It takes a special something to upstage Jimmy Anderson in his final Test.
01:58So how does that feel?
02:01Yeah, I mean, great to have third best figures on debut.
02:07But, you know, to be out there alongside Jimmy in his final Test was incredible.
02:11You know, being in the long room, walking out,
02:14Jimmy leading us on the pitch was a pretty surreal moment.
02:18And I mean, of course,
02:19he's going to be mentoring England for the rest of the English summer.
02:21And you haven't particularly shared a dressing room with Jimmy Pryor.
02:25So what are the things that you've learned from him?
02:26And have you picked his brain at all?
02:33I've learned, you know, just seeing him,
02:35the way he goes about things off the pitch, on the pitch,
02:40and just watching him bowl has been incredible.
02:44And just, you know, I don't think many of the guys
02:47want to overcomplicate things for the younger guys.
02:50So, you know, just taking the small things
02:52from the more experienced guys is what I've tried to do.
03:02Tell us, sorry, it's a geeky question.
03:03What are you trying to do as a stock ball?
03:05And what are you doing with the scrambled scene?
03:07What's the thinking behind that, please?
03:10My stock ball is sort of that scrambled team.
03:15I felt like today with the slope bowling from the pavilion end,
03:18that was my most dangerous ball.
03:21Sort of targeting fourth stump and trying to run it down the hill.
03:27And to the left, he's just trying to push it across them
03:29with the odd in swing.
03:30I felt like that was the best way I could get wickets.
03:36Seems probably a bit more scrambled than I'd like,
03:38but that's something I can work on.
03:40So what's the thinking?
03:41Is it that there's a bit of unpredictability about it?
03:44Sometimes it will kick on off the seam.
03:46Yeah, I think so.
03:47And I feel like I can bowl quicker and hit the pitch harder
03:50when I bowl a scrambled seam.
03:53And it's worked for me pretty well in the past.
03:57So that's it really.
04:00Gus, were you kind of emotional and nervous this morning?
04:04Obviously, it was quite a big build up with all the Jimmy stuff,
04:05probably quite a long wait,
04:07especially just in the long room waiting to go out.
04:09And also the cat presentation, you've got an old mate giving you that,
04:13got your family in the huddle, all those kind of things.
04:14But can you take us inside your emotions this morning?
04:18Yeah, I was a bit nervous this morning.
04:21Sort of woke up and all you could think about was the day ahead.
04:27But yeah, I was a bit emotional this morning
04:29and then having my family there for my cat presentation off Popey was amazing.
04:35I mean, if you could ask me what I'd want,
04:38you know, in a day that's probably pretty close to the top, I'd say.
04:43So yeah, it was pretty cool.
04:44And presumably when you drew your curtains back this morning,
04:47this is a day you've been thinking about
04:49probably pretty much your whole cricketing life.
04:51You couldn't really have dreamt it could go any better, could you?
04:54Yeah, I mean, I tried to keep as level as possible.
04:58My dad was saying, oh, it's the biggest day of your life.
05:00And I was like, relax, relax.
05:02I'm trying not to think like that.
05:03But yeah, I was a bit nervous to start.
05:07And then once the sort of first few overs were bowled,
05:10then I was pretty, pretty calm.
05:13OK, one question each from Steph and Mike and then we'll finish this up, yeah?
05:16All right, Gus van Bolt.
05:17Can I just check, was your dad in India?
05:18Did he travel around?
05:19He did, he came for a few of them.
05:20I think he would have been here anyway if I wasn't playing.
05:23So he loves it, yeah.
05:24Was he there for the whole time?
05:25No, he came for, I can't remember which ones,
05:29but then he was there in Dharamshala at the end.
05:32And just what it means to him seeing you?
05:35Yeah, I mean, he's a big cricket fan.
05:38So to make him proud and my family proud is, you know, very special.
05:44And then walking through the long room at the end,
05:47seeing him there was pretty cool.
05:52Well, Bolt, you've mentioned that your name is already on the
05:56honours box in time-honoured fashion,
05:58presumably with a bit of sticky tape to hold it there.
06:00If I told you that you'd got there quicker than any England bowler in history,
06:04I think you took 53 balls of your test career to get a fiver
06:08and nobody's done it quicker.
06:09Does that make it even more special?
06:11Yeah, it's pretty cool.
06:13Just to take a fiver is great.
06:16I haven't had one in a year or so.
06:19So, you know, to get a fiver is amazing.
06:23More than I could have dreamt for.
06:28I think I'm right that this was your first sort of red ball appearance here at Lord's.
06:32So how did that sort of add to the occasion?
06:37Yeah, I've played a few white ball games here.
06:40So it was special.
06:47I've always felt like I would bowl quite well here, to be honest, with a red ball.
06:51So to be able to come out and get the opportunity
06:55in the first test of the summer is great.
06:58And thankfully it went well, yeah.
07:01Cheers.
07:02Thanks, guys.