England's new bowling sensation Gus Atkinson admits the devastating blow of his mum's death in a car crash could have derailed him as his colourful heritage is revealed

As he sits in the Trent Bridge pavilion, reflecting quietly on his remarkable Test debut at Lord's a few days earlier, Gus Atkinson lures you into thinking he can't possibly be a fast bowler, cricket's least temperate breed. It's a mistake others have made before, and some will make again.

And yet it really is hard to square his angelic blue eyes, shy smile, and tendency to self-deprecate with the 90mph assassin who took 12 for 106 during the innings win against West Indies. He is polite, considered, economical with his words but never terse. If a goose waddled past, it's likely Atkinson would not say 'boo'.

He certainly wasn't sledging anyone at Lord's, where he almost succeeded in upstaging Jimmy Anderson's final Test. He even apologised to him for taking the final wicket, receiving a curt 'f*** off' in reply.

Above all, he isn't getting carried away. 'It's quite likely it won't ever happen again,' he says of his 12-wicket haul. 'To start like that is pretty incredible, but a few people have said to me it's only downhill from here.

'I haven't had many days where I've taken a bunch of wickets. I'd only taken one first-class five-for. After the first spell, when I took two, I thought, I could pile on a few here. And it just seemed to happen pretty quickly.

'It's all a bit of a blur. I don't think it's really settled in yet, and now we're here for the next game. If I can go half as well, that would nice.'

Atkinson has a colourful heritage. On his mother's side, the 10th Earl of Dundonald, Thomas Cochrane, commanded the Chilean navy in their 19th-century war of independence against the Spanish.

On his father's, the MP Sir Henry Norris owned Arsenal, orchestrated their controversial move from south to north London in 1913 and built thousands of houses in Fulham, across the Thames from Atkinson's Wandsworth home. By returning the best analysis from an England newcomer in 134 years — better than Anderson managed in any of his 188 Tests — he has laid down a marker for a new generation, both on his family tree and among English fast bowlers.

Yet, as injury and personal tragedy struck, there were times when his ascent felt anything but pre-ordained. Some even wondered whether he was cut out for the task of bowling fast.

His dad, Ed, remembers watching him play an age-group game for Surrey against Lancashire at Urmston, and noticing the pace he had put on. But he adds: 'Because his run-up was so languid and his delivery stride was so easy, I thought he looked as if he wasn't trying.'

Ed asked the coach, Richard Bedbrook, how he felt Gus was getting on. Bedbrook eased his concerns: 'This guy's got something we really like. He bowls a heavy ball, hits the pitch and the bat hard.'

Then there was England's recent Test tour of India, where the smoothness of Atkinson's action in the nets — comparisons to Jofra Archer are common — created the illusion that he was bowling within himself.

'It's frustrated me at times,' Atkinson tells Mail Sport. 'There have been moments in my career when coaches have… not accused me of not trying, but they just want me to put in a bit more. I'm like, 'I am trying'. But sometimes I've looked back at videos of me bowling and thought, jeez, I can see where they're coming from. I am trying. It's just the way I make it look.'

And it has taken effort to look effortless. Not until Vikram Solanki, then on Surrey's coaching staff, urged him to remove the handbrake before the start of the T20 Blast in 2021 did Atkinson begin to crack it.

'It was something that was always going to come,' he says, 'but I didn't realise I had it in me until he said, 'Run in and bowl as quick as you can and let's see what happens'. I went into a T20 game against Somerset, and thought I'm just going to run in and bowl quick. It felt good, and since then I've always tried to push myself.'

Atkinson was measured at 95mph bowling to Jos Buttler during the Hundred last year, and in September took four for 20 against New Zealand at Old Trafford, the best figures by an England T20 debutant. At Lord's, he provided the kind of pace Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes regard as non-negotiable if England are to regain the urn in 2025-26.

A less unflappable character might have given up long before. In each of 2017, 2018 and 2019, he suffered a stress fracture of the back, slowing his progress while Surrey age-group colleagues such as Sam Curran and Will Jacks leapt ahead. Then, four months after he dismissed Alastair Cook on first-class debut in 2020, his mum, Caroline, died in a car crash. Atkinson's tendency to take things in his stride was tested in the worst circumstances imaginable.

'I thought, my career can go one of two ways. I can go off the boil, or focus on my cricket and put a lot into that.

'It changed my perspective on the game — not in terms of not caring as much, but seeing it as not the be all and end all. I might bowl a bad over, but it's not the end of the world.

'You might have bad days, but so what? I think I handled it pretty well from a cricketing point of view. It was a very tough time. You don't really know how to go about a situation like that. It's just cracking on and doing the best you can.'

His dad believes Gus's natural sangfroid has helped. 'Hopefully he's got the character to go through what undoubtedly will be tougher times ahead,' he says. 'He's gone through some tough times already, with three stress fractures and his mum dying. I'm sure he'll be able to cope with what happens on the field too.'

Ed says his son is 'quite a leader within his peer group', despite the quiet exterior. 'He takes a bit of getting to know, but he's a funny guy. He just doesn't see the point in speaking too much.

'He's quite confident in his own abilities and his character. He's happy in his skin.'

And once you prod and poke, these qualities start to emerge. 'I'd love to play in an Ashes series,' says Gus. 'Especially in Australia. I've love to go there and win.'

How will he handle the attention? 'Fine. I always imagined what it was like to be a Test cricketer, and I always thought I could get there. So it's stuff I've thought about.'

What about becoming more vocal with the batsmen? 'I'm not going to be someone I'm not. As I play more international cricket, I'll discover who and what I am as a bowler. I'm just going to be the best I can be — not worry about how I act, and more how I perform.'

Because of injury, the 26-year-old Atkinson has played only 20 first-class matches — and, thanks to Lord's, has three five-fors. And he believes his time on the sidelines has kept his body fresh for a bowler of his age.

'I can improve in everything,' he says. 'I can still bowl quicker, move the ball through the air more, use the crease more — small things that make a big difference.'

Perhaps making a big difference runs in the blood. Henry Norris turned Woolwich Arsenal into modern-day Arsenal, and sneaked them up the queue to get into the First Division post-First World War when other clubs had finished higher in the most recent Second Division season. He was also chairman of Fulham, and helped establish Brentford.

Admiral Cochrane, meanwhile, defeated Napoleon, who admiringly dubbed him 'the sea wolf'. He inspired the character Captain Jack Aubrey, played by Russell Crowe in Master and Commander, and is paid annual tribute at his grave in Westminster Abbey by Chile's navy.'I don't know too much about the history, but I guess it's pretty cool,' says Atkinson with a smile. He sounds unfazed and unburdened. Gus Atkinson is making his own history now.