When Mum died, my career could have gone. So this is very special
England’s 95mph man GUS ATKINSON opens up on family tragedy and his mission to rattle India
There was always something about Gus Atkinson that convinced Surrey he could join their illustrious list of england internationals.
It just took time, as well as overcoming a few major obstacles along the way, to convince the fast bowler himself.
Atkinson emerged seemingly from nowhere at the start of last season to help launch Surrey’s charge towards another County Championship title before quickly bowling himself on to england’s radar with that priceless commodity of genuine pace.
Now, after touching 95mph during the last hundred, he has been fast- tracked into england’s Test squad via an encouraging introduction to the white-ball teams that included three World Cup appearances.
It may have all appeared to arrive in a hurry but Atkinson’s initial progress at the Oval was held up by three stress fractures of the back in successive years before the tragedy of losing the close family member who did so much to guide his early career.
That journey has now reached its pinnacle for Atkinson, about to turn 26, of being asked to join Mark Wood in providing the all- important extra pace in england’s attempt to upset India in the five-Test series that begins in hyderabad on January 25.
‘Surrey have been very good to me,’ said Atkinson before heading to Abu Dhabi for england’s pre-India tour training camp. ‘ They saw in me what I didn’t early on. Alec Stewart says he remembers the first time he saw me bowling before I signed and that I had something about me and could get real pace off the wicket.
‘People at the club would tell me they wanted me to go all the way, to play in all formats and be picked by england. I’d say, “Well yes, obviously I want to, that’s my dream. Maybe it will happen one day”. But for it all to happen now is not something I would have expected 12 months ago.’
Then there was the tragic loss in a car crash in 2020 of his mum, Caroline, who with his dad, ed, working overseas, would do so much to encourage the young
Gus that he belonged in the same company as others from his Surrey age group such as Ollie Pope, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, ryan Patel and Amar Virdi.
‘My mum pushed me forward almost behind my back,’ Atkinson tells Mail Sport.
‘ She’d get in touch with Surrey and make sure I was still in the loop when perhaps I might have been falling behind the others.
‘Once she passed away my career could have gone one or two ways and I wanted to take it in the direction she would have wanted. And that I wanted as well. So to be in this position is very special.’
The acceleration towards the top started for Atkinson at the same Abu Dhabi venue where he will be preparing with england to take on India.
‘I did OK at the end of the 2022 season but the main thing was going away last winter and playing in the IL T20,’ he said.
‘Azhar Mahmood was there as bowling coach so I could work with him closely, as I’d been doing at Surrey. It went from there. I felt fresh and it was the start of a very good year.’
From there, Atkinson went into Surrey’s Championship side at the beginning of last season and announced himself to a wider audience by impressing in a Sky televised match.
‘I’d been frustrated that I didn’t start off in the team,’ he said. ‘But when I got in I took a “six for” against essex. The important thing was to back it up because I’d never played in back-to-back Championship matches so to follow it by bowling well against Middlesex was very satisfying. And it being on TV did help.’
That wicket tally against essex included a particularly notable victim in one Sir Alastair Cook for the second time in Atkinson’s career — he snared him in his early days as a pro in 2020.
‘My friends gave me a lot of stick when I got Cook out in my first year because they said the lbw wasn’t pitching in line but this one was caught behind so it was nice to say “that’s out”.’
It is pace which regularly tops 90mph that sets Atkinson apart, a key part of his armoury he believes he has always had but which clicked after he tinkered with his action. ‘Maybe it was a confidence thing when I wasn’t playing regular cricket but I think my pace comes naturally,’ said Atkinson.
‘I’m definitely giving my all and feel like I get a lot of pace from the last few steps of my run up. Then I have a whippy arm. I don’t feel like I’m putting loads of force on my body now.’
The importance of not putting force on his body will be crucial to Atkinson now he is an all- format england player, having taken four for 20, the best figures by an england bowler on T20 debut, and going on to make 12 white-ball appearances for his country, including three at the World Cup.
‘ It’s been really good,’ said Atkinson about his early england appearances. ‘Now I’m looking forward to playing under Ben Stokes and Baz McCullum. The way the Test team have been playing suits my game perfectly.
‘I’m very excited about what lies ahead. India and the Ashes are the two tours you most want to go on and it would be incredible to win over the next few weeks.’
And that would complete quite a rise for Atkinson.