Opener Zak Crawley said on Friday that England's young pace attack will face a "test of character" in their upcoming Test series in Pakistan where a pitch baked by searing temperatures and surging smog levels await.

Atkinson became only the third man to bag five wickets in an innings and score a century in the same Lord's Test, following India's Vinoo Mankad in 1952 and Ian Botham for England against Pakistan in 1978.

Gus Atkinson scored a dashing maiden century before England strengthened their grip on the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's on Friday.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has today revealed the ICC Players of the Month for July 2024 as England’s Gus Atkinson and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu.

"I tried to keep as level as possible. My dad was saying 'It's the biggest day of your life' and I was like 'Relax! Relax - try not to think like that'," he added with a laugh.

Gus Atkinson stole the spotlight from England great James Anderson's farewell by taking a sensational seven wickets on his Test debut as the West Indies collapsed to 121 all out on Wednesday's opening day at Lord's.