England Next Gen: Gus Atkinson is the simple, unfussy bowler who has ‘what everyone wants’ – pace

Throughout the 2023 Hundred, BBC Sport is running a feature series called England Next Gen, designed to look at players who may make the step up to international cricket in the next few years. Next up is Oval Invincibles and Surrey fast bowler Gus Atkinson.

The Surrey bowler’s rise to prominence over the past year might best be defined by that one small but crucial word.

Since his debut in 2020, Atkinson had made just five first-class appearances prior to last summer.

He only played another four in 2022, along with six Vitality Blast games, but that was enough to earn him stints with Desert Vipers in the ILT20 and Pakistan Super League franchise Islamabad United.

By early June of this year, with James Anderson and Ollie Robinson injured, he was being touted as an option for England’s Test against Ireland.

When you’ve got pace, things can happen quickly.

“He’s definitely put on a yard over the winter,” said BBC London cricket commentator Mark Church.

“Everybody has noticed this summer how hard he’s hitting the keeper’s gloves. His bouncer is rapid and he hurries batters up with genuine pace.

“That is what everyone is looking for, that point of difference.

“He’s a real talent and what I love about Gus is that he’s sort of gone under the radar a touch until now. It is very noticeable how he has quickened up this season. He seems to have bulked up a bit.”

Now 25, Atkinson’s early progress was hampered by injury as he suffered stress fractures in 2017, 2018 and 2019 before working his way back to dismiss Sir Alastair Cook on his first-class debut.

The former England captain was among Atkinson’s victims again as the Surrey quick took a career-best 6-68 against Essex in the County Championship in May.

“I was impressed,” Cook told BBC Sport. “He can hit a very good, hard natural length.

“It doesn’t look like it takes too much effort for him to bowl quickly so you would say there is probably a bit more in the tank.

“Speaking to him, it looks easy but he is striving for as much pace as he can get. It looks like there is a bit more untapped pace.

“He also has raw skills to be able to move the ball – a bit like when I first saw Mark Wood.”

The CricViz data from Atkinson’s spell at the ILT20 and a couple of Blast games for Surrey this summer suggests the searing pace of Wood is not quite there yet.

An average speed of 83.5mph looks more Chris Woakes than Wood, but that does include slower balls and other variations. Perhaps more telling is that 20% of Atkinson’s deliveries were clocked at over 87mph.

With the prospect of added pace to be unlocked, he might yet give Wood a run for his money – and Atkinson is already reaping the rewards of the gains he has made in that department over the past 12 months.

Church added: “People who haven’t seen him before sit there and go, ‘hang on, where has he come from?’.

“He’s a dream for a captain in that there’s no fuss, no bother, you can just bung him the ball and he sort of glides into the crease. There is no change to his action whatever.”

It is that smooth, repeatable action that has led to comparisons with another England fast bowler, Jofra Archer. But Atkinson is not one to get carried away or overawed by this new-found attention.

“He wouldn’t be fazed by anything,” Church said. “The reason for that is that he keeps it very, very simple.

“The other key thing is that he can bat. In this Surrey side you see him wandering in at nine or 10 and he looks in no trouble whatsoever and plays some gorgeous shots.

“By the back end of his career he could end up batting as high as six or seven. He’s that good.”

Atkinson hopes to play for England within the next year and given the trajectory of his ascent in recent times, there is every chance he achieves that goal.

“That West Indies series around the Christmas period would be a really good time for England to have a look at him,” Church added.

“Get him in there, have a look at him with the white ball – because he’s got all the skills with the white ball as well – with an eye on playing a bit of Test cricket.

“His name is being mentioned an awful lot lately. The reason is that he’s picking up his wickets and doing it at pace. That is what England are looking for without a shadow of a doubt.”