If Michael Vaughan believes Ollie Pope is ‘not the kind of personality I’d want as England captain’, then he must concede Pope is presiding over the kind of the team that is going places.
A one-sided day began with a stirring century for Gus Atkinson from No 8, and ended with England batting again after Sri Lanka were bundled out for 196 – with Pope himself at the crease after another single-figure dismissal for Dan Lawrence.
With three days to go, England – 25 for one in their second innings – are already 256 ahead. Anything but a 2-0 lead, and a fifth successive win, will be a shock.
Even so, Vaughan’s comments to the Test Match Special podcast did not ease the pressure on Pope, who has made 15 runs in three and a bit innings since stepping in for Ben Stokes, and spoken of the difficulty he has found juggling his two roles.
Bravely, he walked out to bat with only minutes of the second day to go after rightly deciding not to enforce the follow-on. It would have been easier to send out a nightwatchman, but if he intends to lead from the front in what remains of his time in charge, the message was received loud and clear.
England are closing in on fifth successive Test win after dominating on day two of second Test
Gus Atkinson continued his superb start to his career with a century against the Sri Lankans
And there was plenty to admire from a side who this summer have renewed and refreshed with success, and made a habit of responding to adversity.
Sri Lanka batted poorly on a blameless pitch, with only Kamindu Mendis – following his sparkling hundred in Manchester – keeping the attack at bay during a high-class 74. Quite why he is being held back until No 7 is a mystery.
Yet England gave them little, with Chris Woakes and Matthew Potts especially unyielding. For the third innings in a row, Woakes struck with the new ball, while Potts – growing in stature after initially struggling for rhythm on his comeback at Old Trafford –removed Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva with a pair of beauties in a double-wicket maiden.
And if Olly Stone walked off with expensive-looking figures of two for 70 from 13 overs, then he too managed a crucial contribution in his first Test for three years. In an over split by lunch, he persuaded Dimuth Karunaratne to drag on, then had Pathum Nissanka caught at leg slip. Stone’s joy was palpable, and who could blame him?
At 118 for seven, Sri Lanka faced humiliation, only for Mendis – badly dropped by Joe Root at deep square leg off Stone on 62 – to ease their pain.
But Shoaib Bashir teased out Prabath Jayasuriya, and Pope ended a ninth-wicket stand of 42 with a direct hit from square leg to run out Lahiru Kumara, whose share was nought.
Michael Vaughan criticised Ollie Pope (pictured) but England are thriving under his leadership
Sri Lanka batted poorly on a blameless pitch, with only Kamindu Mendi keeping the attack at bay
The morning had belonged to Atkinson, whose undefeated 74 the night before had almost been lost amid the praise for Root’s 143.
If he was nervous about the prospect of a maiden Test hundred, he didn’t show it, glancing Kumara’s first ball of the day for four, and easing the second through the covers. When Paul Reiffel adjudged him lbw to the third, Atkinson displayed not a flicker of emotion in asking for a review: to the relief of most of the 30,000 present, Hawk-Eye had it slipping down leg.
He never looked back. An extra-cover drive for four off Kumara took him to 99, and three deliveries later he eased him down the ground, the celebrations beginning as soon as he beat mid-off.
From 103 balls, Atkinson’s century was as quick as it had been both orthodox and chanceless. It was the first by an England No 8 in a home Test since Ray Illingworth here against West Indies in 1969, and vindication of the decision to promote him. Clearly, he is not the type to get giddy.
If fairy godmothers granted debut Test summers, they would look something like this. Atkinson took 12 wickets against West Indies last month in his first match, and now became only the sixth to etch his name on all three Lord’s honours boards – innings hauls of five, match hauls of 10, and hundreds.
The other five are Gubby Allen, Keith Miller, Ian Botham, Stuart Broad and Woakes. No sooner has Atkinson joined big school than he is rubbing shoulders with the sixth-formers.
On Thursday evening, he had lofted Jayasuriya for a pair of off-side sixes, prompting Root to compare him to South African legend Jacques Kallis. It was generous, but slightly misleading: in five Test innings at Lord’s, Kallis averaged 10.
And he wasn’t the only batting great missing from the centuries board: Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli have all tried and failed to score a Test century at the home of cricket. Atkinson has them covered, too.
Olly Stone took two wickets in an over in his first Test for more than three years
After just four and a half games, he has 28 wickets at 19 to go with 182 runs at 36, and it took something suitably special to remove him. Aiming for a third four in a row off Asitha Fernando, he was brilliantly caught at deep midwicket by Milan Rathnayake, diving towards the rope as the ball appeared over his shoulder.
Atkinson’s 118 helped England to 427, a minor miracle from 216 for six; Sri Lanka’s only consolation was five wickets for Fernando, just their second bowler to achieve the feat here, after Rumesh Ratnayake in 1991.
The tourists did remove Lawrence late on, caught behind off Kumara via an inside edge on to his pad. But this was England’s day, just as it looks to be England’s series.
