As his lady era shows head for bats, GUs Atkinson maintains his grounding.

England bowling not getting carried away despite remarkable achievement in maiden wickets at No. 8

Joe Root's smiles as he sat on the Lord's outside made it obvious that his tongue-in-cheek contrast to Jacques Kallis and Gus Atkinson was outrageous. But while Atkinson is doubtful to graduate to standard allrounder standing anywhere immediately, there was no questioning the talent he showed in making his maiden Test- and first-class- hundred.

In his first foreign appearance, Atkinson showed promise of his batsmanship, shattering 35 off 21 balls in England's crushing defeat to South Africa at the World Cup last year and half belting 21 from down the buy against West Indies in his lady Test set this summers. Yet still, he looked a place great at No. When England changed their starting lineup to accommodate Ben Stokes ' presence, 8 was achieved.

But at Lord's, he lived up to his campaign to reach 74 never out on Thursday night, half lofting Prabath Jayasuriya over mid-off and pulling Lahiru Kumara's tired little game over midwicket. " Being at the other end when he hit those immediately touchdowns, they were unbelievable", Root said, laughing, at the close of play. " It's like watching people like Jacques Kallis play".

It just took him 22 pellets to change his over score into a hundred, though not without a fear. He was given out lbw by Paul Reiffel after the first two pellets of the day for four, which were a twist off the pads and a bite through cover. The game was later discovered to be missing and was later recovered by a critique. Marcus Trescothick, England's batting coach, punched the air in relief on the balcony.

As he cruised to three figures, Atkinson displayed no such emotion, which was a hallmark of his unflappable behavior. He has worked hard on his basics with Surrey's coaches Gareth Batty and Jade Dernbach, trying to stay as still as possible with his eyes level on release. His practice came to fruition with the shots that took him from 95 to 103, crisp drives either side of mid-off.

Finally, Atkinson allowed himself to smile, beaming as he charged towards the pavilion with fists clenched. His father, Ed, watched in disbelief from a hospitality suite in the Grandstand, and his team-mates stood to applaud from the balcony, all grinning as they shared in the unlikely success of a man averaging 6.71 in the County Championship this season.

On Thursday night, Atkinson had dinner with Zak Crawley and Harry Brook and was gently ribbed by them about the possibility of achieving three figures. " There was a bit of pressure on from them, but thankfully I got there", he said. " It was just pure elation. I was so happy, so relieved. It was a pretty surreal moment.

" I was pretty happy]last night]," Atkinson added". I'd scored 70-odd already, so I tried to not put too much pressure on myself: if I got out, I got out. I only wanted to play as I did yesterday. Thankfully, today it worked out for me. It was nice to just arrive this morning after hitting quite a few boundaries today because I feel like I've already broken a few.

The innings put Atkinson in esteemed company, making him one of six men to take both a ten-for and hit a hundred at Lord's, following his 12-wicket debut haul against West Indies last month. Additionally, this century came from England's lower order ( No. 1 ). 8-11 ) for more than a decade, since Matt Prior in 2013, and, excluding innings which involved nightwatchmen, the first since Stuart Broad's 169 against Pakistan at Lord's in 2010.

That Broad had eight fifties and no scores in his 199 subsequent innings before reaching 15.64 should serve as a reminder that Atkinson wo n't always have things this simple. With 57 previous Test caps in his possession, he faced a four-man attack, which makes batting less straightforward when he faces India and Australia next year.

Atkinson, however, does not seem the type to get ideas above his station, and made clear that he is not looking for a promotion". I'm happy at eight, eight is good, "he said". I did n't give it a lot of thought because I obviously missed seeing Stokesy this season because I could play No. 8, and thankfully I scored a hundred. Going forward, obviously I'd like to bat as high as possible.

I've been unhappy with my batting this year because I have n't really scored any runs for Surrey. But I am aware of my potential prowess. I think my bat has a lot of natural ability, and I felt like I was moving really well and hitting the ball really well. It was just one of those days when things did not go your way.

His return to the starting lineup could help England make wise decisions away from home, with Atkinson becoming a regular contributor from No. Without unfairly compromising the strength of their side, 8 would empower them to eject Chris Woakes from the world. More immediately, it has put them on the cusp of a fifth win in a row, and a second series victory of the summer.