[2] A right-handed batsman,[2] he also played minor counties cricket for Durham and played for the second XIs of first-class counties Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.
[3] Atkinson was born in Birtley, near Gateshead, County Durham, England.
After making his debut for Durham in 1972,[3] he made his List A debut against Yorkshire in the first round of the Gillette Cup in 1973, when Durham became the first minor county in the Gillette Cup to beat one of the 17 senior counties.
[6] The following year, he played for the Netherlands in the 1986 ICC Trophy[7] and scored 162 against Israel, the second highest score for the Netherlands in the ICC Trophy competition[8] and the fourth highest overall.
[9] He continued to play for Durham for the next three years,[3] though he eventually settled in Hong Kong, where his son James (who has played cricket for Hong Kong) was born in 1990.