If Michael Vaughan believes Ollie Pope is “not the sort of personality I would want as England captain” then he must admit that Pope presides over the sort of team that will go far.
A one-sided day began with a thrilling century for Gus Atkinson from the No 8 spot, and ended with England batting again after Sri Lanka had been bowled out for 196, with Pope himself at the crease after another single-figure dismissal for Dan Lawrence.
With three days to go, England (25-1 in their second innings) are already 256 ahead. Anything other than a 2-0 lead and a fifth straight win will be a surprise.
Still, Vaughan’s comments on the Test Match Special podcast did little to ease the pressure on Pope, who has made 15 runs in three innings and a little more since replacing Ben Stokes, and spoke of the difficulty he has found juggling his two roles.
He bravely came up to bat with just minutes left on the second day, having rightly decided not to implement the follow-up measure. It would have been easier to send a watchman, but if he intends to lead from the front in his remaining time in office, the message was received loud and clear.
England are closing in on their fifth consecutive Test win after dominating on day two of the second Test.
Gus Atkinson continued his superb start to his career with a century against Sri Lanka.
And there was much to admire about a team that has been renewed and refreshed by success this summer, and has acquired the habit of responding to adversity.
Sri Lanka batted poorly on a flawless pitch, with only Kamindu Mendis, after his brilliant century in Manchester, keeping the attack at bay during a first-class 74. Why he is retained down to No. 7 is a mystery.
England gave them little, though, with Chris Woakes and Matthew Potts especially unyielding. For the third innings in a row, Woakes struck with the new ball, while Potts, who was growing in stature after initially struggling for pace on his return at Old Trafford, removed Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva with a pair of beauties in a two-wicket maiden.
And if Olly Stone departed with expensive-looking figures of two for 70 in 13 overs, then he also made a crucial contribution in his first Test in three years. In a split over before lunch, he coaxed Dimuth Karunaratne to carry 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 (heavily bowled by Joe Root at deep square leg off Stone on 62) to ease their pain.
But Shoaib Bashir got Prabath Jayasuriya out of contention, and Pope ended a ninth over of 42 with a drive from square leg to remove Lahiru Kumara, whose involvement was zero.
Michael Vaughan criticised Ollie Pope (pictured) but England are thriving under his leadership
Sri Lanka batted poorly on a spotless pitch, with only Kamindu Mendi keeping the attack at bay.
The morning had belonged to Atkinson, whose unbeaten 74 the night before had almost been lost amid the praise for Root’s 143.
If he was nervous at the prospect of his first Test century, he didn’t show it, glancing at Kumara’s first ball of the day to score four and squeezing past the second with ease. When Paul Reiffel called it lbw to third, Atkinson showed not a shred of emotion in calling for a review: to the relief of most of the 30,000 in attendance, Hawk-Eye had it slipping down his leg.
He never looked back. An extra-cover drive for four off Kumara took him to 99, and three deliveries later he was gently bowled to the ground, the celebrations beginning as soon as he cleared midwicket.
From 103 balls, Atkinson’s hundred was as quick as any he had ever been, at once orthodox and chanceless. It was the first by an England No 8 in a home Test since Ray Illingworth here against the West Indies in 1969, and a vindication of the decision to promote him. Clearly, he is not the type to get excited.
If the fairy godmothers were to grant him a Test debut in the summers, they would look like this. Atkinson took 12 wickets against the West Indies last month in his first match, and has now become the sixth to etch his name on all three honours boards at Lord’s – five innings total, ten total and hundreds total.
The other five are Gubby Allen, Keith Miller, Ian Botham, Stuart Broad and Woakes. Atkinson had barely joined the secondary school when he began rubbing shoulders with the sixth formers.
On Thursday night, he had bowled Jayasuriya for a pair of sixes off the off-spin, 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 great batsman not to feature on the century board: Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli all tried and failed to score a century at the home of cricket. Atkinson has them covered too.
Olly Stone took two wickets in one over in his first Test in more than three years.
After just four and a half games, he has 28 wickets at 19 and 182 runs at 36, and it took something very special to get him out. Aiming to hit his third successive four off Asitha Fernando, Milan Rathnayake caught him brilliantly at deep mid-wicket, diving for the rope as the ball popped over his shoulder.
Atkinson’s 118 helped England reach 427, a minor miracle of 216 for six; Sri Lanka’s only consolation was five wickets for Fernando, only their second player to achieve the feat here, after Rumesh Ratnayake in 1991.
The tourists removed Lawrence late on, caught behind Kumara with an inside edge on his pad. But this was England’s day, just as England’s series looks set to be.