Gus Atkinson’s love affair with Lord’s continued as his five-wicket haul lifted England to a fifth successive Test win of the summer and a series success over Sri Lanka.
Having already put his name on all three honours boards in just two outings at the home of cricket, Atkinson’s five for 62 helped bundle out Sri Lanka for 292 as England won the second Test by 190 runs.
Chris Woakes and Olly Stone each chipped in with a couple of wickets as England remained on course for a clean sweep of Test wins for the first time since 2004, having claimed a first triumph over Sri Lanka at Lord’s in 33 years.
Half-centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva all held up England, who needed eight wickets on the penultimate day, but they seemed to be merely delaying the inevitable.
The one disappointment on a warm, sunny day was the sparse crowd. While tickets for under-16s were just GBP 15, the cheapest available for adults turning up on Sunday morning to watch England claim a first win in six attempts over these opponents at this ground – after five draws – were priced at GBP 95.
The Marylebone Cricket Club has promised to look into its pricing structure for the penultimate day of a Test match in future after a low turnout at Lord’s for England against Sri Lanka.
While tickets for under-16s were just GBP 15, the cheapest available for adults turning up on Sunday morning to watch England claim the eight wickets they needed for a series win were priced at GBP 95.
Cheaper tickets were available in advance, including those with a restricted view, while the MCC announced it had lowered the gate price from 3:45pm to GBP 15 for adults and GBP 5 for children.
Amid a sparse crowd turning up at the 31,100-capacity venue, MCC chief executive and secretary Guy Lavender intends to explore fourth-day prices following a recent trend of early finishes to Tests.
“We will be paying particular attention to the structure of fourth day tickets in our pricing reviews given the way that Test cricket is now being played,” Lavender said in a statement.
The MCC stated ticket sales in 2024 have been the best outside of an Ashes year, with the first three days near to capacity and closely matching the sell-out against the West Indies earlier in the summer.
However, England beating the Windies inside three days has been thought to have had a knock-on consequence, as has staging this Test later than usual, so close to the end of the school holidays.
Following criticism on social media over the cost of entry on Sunday, Lavender explained lowering prices would have created a logistical headache as many had already paid the whole amount.
Guy Lavender admitted sales for day four against the Sri Lanka were lower than against the West Indies (John Walton/PA)
“Sales were slower for the fourth day of this match than v West Indies,” Lavender added.
“(That is) likely in part to England’s dominant performance at Lord’s earlier this summer, and this Test being later than normal at the end of the school holidays.
“Earlier this year, we sold out the opening four days of the England v West Indies match and were close to doing so for the first three days of this match.
“From the outset we priced Under-16 tickets at just GBP 15 for weekend days of our Test matches and introduced a group discount for day four.
“It is difficult to dynamically discount tickets in hindsight when thousands of supporters have applied through our 2023 ballot process and paid the full price.”
England needed three more wickets to claim a first Test victory over Sri Lanka at Lord’s in 33 years and move into an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Gus Atkinson took three wickets and the hostile Olly Stone two as Sri Lanka were reduced to 260 for seven at tea on the penultimate day of the second day in an unlikely pursuit of a world record 483.
Contrasting fifties from Dimuth Karunaratne (55) and Dinesh Chandimal (58) stalled England’s charge for a fifth successive win this summer while Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva is unbeaten on 45.
Having folded meekly in the first innings, this was an impressive show of resilience from the tourists’ batters, albeit one played disappointingly in front of a sparse crowd at the home of cricket.
While tickets for under-16s were just GBP 15, the cheapest available for adults turning up on Sunday morning to watch England claim a first win in six attempts over these opponents at this ground – after five draws – were priced at GBP 95.
Chris Woakes snaffled the edge of nightwatcher Prabath Jayasuriya for four but it was an otherwise frustrating opening hour as Joe Root spilled a difficult head-high chance when Karunaratne was on 25.
England also unsuccessfully queried not out verdicts against the opener twice, continuing Ollie Pope’s luckless use of DRS – in his seven reviews, he is yet to overturn the original on-field decision.
There was a hint of up and down for the seamers but precious little movement in the morning, prompting Stone to be deployed as a short-ball battering ram, which was rewarded as his extra zip got one to lift off the surface to tickle the glove of Karunaratne down the leg-side.
Stone dug another one to welcome Chandimal, who uncertainly periscoped the delivery and decided either side of lunch that attack was the best form of defence.
He contributed 51 to a 59-run stand with Angelo Mathews, who grafted unobtrusively for 36 but his innings ground to a halt and, having soaked up 19 successive dots, the pressure told as he uppishly crunched Shoaib Bashir to wide mid-off.
Chandimal, who flicked unwittingly over the slips to reach a 42-ball fifty, was saved by a faint inside edge after being given out on 55 but he added just three more before flicking on to his pad off Atkinson, with Pope vindicated for putting in a short-leg as Dan Lawrence took an easy catch.
Kamindu Mendis has been the biggest batting thorn in England’s side in this series but he lasted just five balls before throwing his hands at Atkinson from round the wicket, with Ben Duckett taking the edge.
There was no quick finish, though, despite Milan Rathnayake weathering a blow to his helmet in the next over off Stone, who was clobbered for three fours in an over by the lower-order batter.
England burned their final review on Rathnayake, with Bashir’s delivery sliding down leg to extend Pope’s woes, while part-timer Lawrence almost struck gold after being introduced, with an inside edge saving Dhananjaya.
Bashir sent down England’s 80th over before the tea break and it seems likely they will take the second new ball on the resumption as they look to claim victory.
Harry Brook admitted he is taking notes from Ben Stokes on the art of being a successful captain amid growing noises the Yorkshireman will lead England in the future.
In Stokes’ injury-enforced absence, Ollie Pope has overseen a Test series win over Sri Lanka with a match to spare but his “personality” has been questioned by Ashes 2005-winning skipper Michael Vaughan.
As Pope has amassed just 30 runs in his four innings at the helm, averaging a paltry 7.5, Vaughan told the BBC last week that Brook “is an England captain in the making. I don’t see Ollie as that person”.
Harry Brook, left, had his first experience of captaincy in the Hundred this year, with Ben Stokes a teammate at Northern Superchargers (Nick Potts/PA)
Brook has just had his first taste of leadership, where he and head coach Andrew Flintoff took the Northern Superchargers from rock-bottom in the Hundred last year to within a whisker of the knockouts.
He even briefly captained Stokes before the all-rounder’s summer-ending hamstring tear but when asked whether he was ready to take the reins again, Brook said cryptically: “We’ll see.”
Brook has taken inspiration from working alongside Flintoff and Stokes, who has earned rave reviews alongside Test head coach Brendon McCullum for ushering in a more relaxed, positive atmosphere.
“I’ve played with Stokesy quite a bit now and, watching the way he goes about it, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take a few learnings from him,” Brook said.
“I did have a lot of fun (in the Hundred). It made it a lot easier having Fred (Flintoff) there. I feel like we’re quite good mates now as well. We bonded fairly well and we agreed on most things.”
Brook, right, said he gelled well with Andrew Flintoff at the Headingley-based Superchargers (Richard Sellers/PA)
Brook could resume his blossoming friendship with Flintoff this week, with the former talismanic all-rounder set to join England’s backroom staff for the third Test against Sri Lanka at the Oval.
England can complete a clean sweep of Test wins in a home summer programme for the first time in 20 years, having beaten the West Indies 3-0 in July and gone into an unassailable 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka.
The increasing aura around Brook, also touted as a successor to white-ball captain Jos Buttler, has led to him being Pope’s deputy despite coming into the Sri Lanka series with just 15 Tests under his belt.
Vaughan, who led England in 51 Tests, might be unconvinced about Pope, describing him as “quite an insecure human being” with the captaincy weighing him down, but Brook sees things differently.
“I think Popey has done an amazing job,” Brook said. “I’ve tried to give him a few ideas here and there, he’s taken some and he’s shrugged some off so it’s been good so far.
Ollie Pope has made just 30 runs in four innings as stand-in England captain (Ben Whitley/PA)
“I haven’t had to do much. It’s not a massive role, really. If he goes down, I might take over but I’m not really thinking about that. I’m just trying to help him as much as I can while I’m on the field.”
Brook is yet to fully fire against Sri Lanka with scores of 56 and 32 at Old Trafford and 33 and 37 at Lord’s, but he is keen to end the Test summer schedule with a flourish at the Oval before turning his attention to a five-match ODI series against Australia later this month.
“It’s frustrating to get starts obviously but I feel like I’m batting really well and hopefully it’s just a matter of time when a big one comes,” Brook added.
“I’m going to think about the next Test at the Oval, but obviously I want to get better at everything in all formats of the game and in different aspects of the game.
“I think as soon as you stop trying to get better, you may as well finish.”
Jos Buttler has suffered a setback in his recovery from a calf injury, placing fresh doubts over his availability for the start of England’s T20 series against Australia next week.
England’s white-ball captain missed the entirety of The Hundred because of a calf concern he sustained in July but had pencilled in a return to action for Lancashire in the Vitality Blast this week.
However, Red Rose head coach Dale Benkenstein revealed Buttler will miss Wednesday’s quarter-final trip to Sussex and is in a race against time to be fit for the first T20 against Australia on September 11.
“We’ve had some bad news on his recovery,” Benkenstein said on BBC Radio Lancashire. “He’s had an injury that he was recovering from and he’s tweaked it again.
“He’s not only out of our T20 but I think he’s struggling to even make the international ones.
“He was very keen to play for us. Jos was in contact with us to get ready for that quarter-final but he won’t be with us.”
England are understood to be relaxed about the situation and anticipate Buttler to be ready to lead a revamped squad for the entirety of Australia’s limited-overs tour, consisting of three T20s followed by five ODIs this month.
Jos Buttler is not expected to keep wicket for England in their three T20s against Australia this month (Tim Goode/PA)
His chances are likely improved by the assumption he will give up one of his key duties in the T20s, with Phil Salt expected to keep wicket as Buttler fields closer to his bowlers to relay any advice.
Buttler has not featured in any competitive cricket since England’s defeat by India in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup on June 27 but he was given Rob Key’s backing to continue as skipper.
Head coach Matthew Mott was sacked after two underwhelming World Cups, with Marcus Trescothick put in interim charge for Australia’s visit, while long-serving pair Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali were dropped and uncapped trio Josh Hull, Jacob Bethell and John Turner drafted in amid a shake-up of the side.
Jack Leach inspired Somerset to a crushing 293-run victory over Durham to close the gap on Vitality County Championship leaders Surrey to 24 points ahead of their meeting in Taunton later this month.
Somerset had set Durham an improbably 420 for victory and three late scalps on day three further tilted the balance in favour of the hosts.
It did not take England spinner Leach long to get to work on the fourth day and he picked up seven wickets for 50 runs as Durham were dismissed for 126.
Archie Vaughan, the son of former England captain Michael Vaughan, provided support with two for 40 off 21 overs, but the day belonged to Leach, who finished with match figures of 12 for 174 to boost his international chances ahead of the winter tour to Pakistan.
Surrey started this round of fixtures with a 35-point lead at the summit but were frustrated by Nottinghamshire in their attempts to force a result at Trent Bridge.
Farhan Ahmed followed up his seven-wicket haul in the first innings with three for 77 to create more history as back-to-back champions Surrey struggled to score quickly enough to set an early declaration.
The impressive 10 for 217 match figures of 16-year-old Ahmed made him the youngest player in County Championship history to record a 10-wicket match haul.
After Surrey declared on 177 for nine following Rory Burns’ fifty to set 298 for victory, Nottinghamshire openers Ben Slater and Haseeb Hameed ensured there would be no dramatic finale with unbeaten half-centuries to earn the home team a respectable draw.
The faint title hopes of last year’s runners-up Essex ended after a 43-run loss to Worcestershire in Chelmsford.
After Worcestershire progressed their overnight 303 for eight to 321, Essex slumped to 140 all out with Brett D’Oliveira’s non-strikers end run-out of Robin Das for 32 crucial before Logan van Beek’s four-fer earned the visitors’ a precious triumph.
Jack Carson was able to spin leaders Sussex to a sixth victory in Division Two after they beat Derbyshire by an innings and 59 runs.
Sussex required eight more wickets ahead of the final day and Carson’s six for 67 ensured the hosts were not required to bat again in Hove after Derbyshire were skittled out for 258.
Promotion rivals Middlesex and Yorkshire had to settle for a share of the spoils after a high-scoring draw at Headingley.
After Ryan Higgins had taken on his unbeaten 117 to 155 to help Middlesex make 522, Yorkshire reached 150 for two before both captains were able to shake on a draw.
Fourth-placed Leicestershire are not out of the running for second spot, but had their hopes hit by a draw at Glamorgan.
Centuries by Ajinkya Rahane and Peter Handscomb did mean Leicestershire batted out for a final-day draw in Cardiff after they reached 369 for six.
Joe Root passed Sir Alastair Cook as the England batter with the most Test centuries after making two in the match against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.
As 33-year-old Root continues to close on Cook’s national record for Test runs, the PA news agency looks at how he compares to the leading centurions for his country and worldwide.
England
Joe Root, left, has overtaken Sir Alastair Cook as England’s leading Test century-maker (Mike Egerton/Adam Davy/PA)
Cook retired in 2018 with 33 Test centuries to his name, 10 clear of his nearest challenger among England batters which at the time was Kevin Pietersen.
Root had 14 to his name by that point, in 74 Tests, but has played another 71 since and added 20 tons to his total.
He first matched and then beat Cook’s tally during the second Test against Sri Lanka, with scores of 143 in the first innings and 103 in the second.
Pietersen still has the third-most England centuries, one ahead of a four-way tie between Wally Hammond, Colin Cowdrey, Sir Geoffrey Boycott and Ian Bell on 22.
Sir Andrew Strauss made 21 with the top 10 completed by Ken Barrington and Graham Gooch on 20 apiece.
Root is one of only three in that group to average over 50, with his current mark of 50.93 trailing only Barrington (58.67) and Hammond (58.45). His efforts are backed up by 64 half-centuries, also an England record, for a total of 98 scores of 50 or more in his 265 innings.
Root has made centuries – and at least two – in every year of his international career with the exceptions of 2012, when his December debut was his only appearance, and a 2020 schedule disrupted by the Covid pandemic.
World’s best
Sachin Tendulkar made a record 51 Test centuries (Anthony Devlin/PA)
With Root joining a minor international logjam on 34 Test centuries, alongside Younis Khan, Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar and Mahela Jayawardene, only five men remain ahead of him on the all-time list.
India’s Rahul Dravid and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara will be firmly in his sights, having made 36 and 38 Test tons respectively, even if the top three remains a longer-term aspiration.
Ricky Ponting made 41 Test centuries for Australia, Jacques Kallis 45 for South Africa and Sachin Tendulkar a record 51 for India.
They all averaged over 50 – indeed, of the top 10 now completed by Root, the only one who does not is Jayawardene at 49.84.
Root reached the mark in his 145th Test and while of those on 34 tons, only Jayawardene played more (149), those ahead of him mostly played significantly more games.
Tendulkar retired after his 200th Test and Kallis, Ponting and Dravid played over 160, with the sole exception being Sangakkara with 134 games.
Only Tendulkar (119), Kallis and Ponting (both 103) have over 100 scores of 50-plus in Tests, meaning Root is two away from becoming the fourth and just six away from holding second position outright in that list.
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