By Jo Harman

"It’s like watching Jacques Kallis play,” said a beaming Joe Root having had a front-row seat for the latest instalment of Gus Atkinson’s dreamy first summer as a Test cricketer. “I’d die to hit it that cleanly,” added England’s record-equalling centurion.
Back at the ground where he returned the extraordinary figures of 12-106 less than two months ago, the best return by an England debutant for 134 years, the now bleach-blond Atkinson etched his name on the Lord’s honours board once again after making a breathtaking run-aball century.

The latest milestone: Atkinson brings up...