Dan Lawrence axed by England for Pakistan tour – with two uncapped players named

Dan Lawrence’s ill-fated spell as a Test opener has resulted in him being dropped for England’s tour of Pakistan next month, with Essex’s Jordan Cox preferred.

A day after England lost to Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval, selectors wasted no time in naming their squad for the three-Test tour, even though the venues have not been finalised by the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is expected, though, that they will confirm later this week that two matches will take place in Rawalpindi, with one in Multan in between.

Cox is one of two uncapped players in the 17-man squad, alongside Durham’s Brydon Carse, who is in the white-ball squads this month having served a three-month gambling ban.

Opener Zak Crawley and captain Ben Stokes return from injury, while there are recalls for spinners Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed, and a first overseas tour for Chris Woakes since March 2022.

The squad is packed with seven seam-bowling options, with Leicestershire left-armer Josh Hull selected after making his debut at the Oval, alongside Stokes, Carse, Woakes, Matthew Potts, Olly Stone and Gus Atkinson. Stone is due to get married during the tour, and may pop home after the first Test to do so, hence the sheer volume of quicks selected. Three of England’s favoured seam options – Mark Wood, Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer – are unavailable through injury.

None of England’s specialist seamers when they won 3-0 in Pakistan in 2022 will be there, with James Anderson retired (and on the coaching staff), Mark Wood injured, and Ollie Robinson dropped. That Robinson has been left out again, for such a young crop of quicks, shows exactly where he stands with the England management. Despite a Test average under 23, he left the tour of India earlier this year considered a liability by the management.

The spin-bowling department is made up of off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, the first-choice option this year, as well as left-armer Leach and wrist-spinner Ahmed. The latter two performed well on England’s tour of Pakistan in 2022 and are preferred to Tom Hartley, who took nine wickets on his Test debut in India in January but is felt to be better-suited to big turning pitches than the flatter surfaces of Pakistan. There is also no place for Will Jacks, who took six wickets on debut in Pakistan in 2022 and could have played as a side-balancing all-rounder, but may now be condemned to life as a white-ball specialist.

As ever, much depends on the fitness of Stokes. He suffered a serious hamstring tear playing for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred last month and has been building his fitness up while sitting out the Tests against Sri Lanka. A statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board said he is “included as he continues his recovery”, not committing to him being ready to play the first Test, even as an all-rounder.

England’s selectors have ruthlessly discarded Lawrence, who made just 120 runs in six innings opening the batting against Sri Lanka, when Crawley was ruled out with a broken finger. By the Oval, Lawrence was swishing wildly, with his confidence appearing shot.

Lawrence was England’s spare batsman for the first two years under Brendon McCullum, but they have preferred Cox as their only cover for the top seven. Again, England do not have specialist opening cover, with Cox most at home in the middle order. That he keeps wicket will be handy as a deputy for Jamie Smith, who may miss a Test or two on the tour of New Zealand later this year for the birth of his first child, helps. There is no recall for Ben Foakes or Jonny Bairstow after they were axed earlier this year.

Lawrence can feel unlucky, and England could be in same situation in Pakistan

You would not blame Dan Lawrence if he wished he had never been asked to selflessly play out of position as an opener for three Tests against Sri Lanka. After 120 runs in six innings, his reward is to be dropped for England’s next assignment.

Lawrence cut a dejected figure as England sunk to defeat in the final Test at the Kia Oval, his adopted home ground. When his second-innings 35, a mad rode full of ugly swishes, ended, he punched his bat so hard that he emerged to field with a bandaged hand. It was an innings that suggested he either knew he was being backed come what may, or that he knew he was being dropped come what may. It was not the batting of a man whose career depended on it.

Lawrence was informed that he had been dropped in the hours after the Test. He had been England’s spare batsman for two years under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, patiently waiting for a spot to open up. When it did, he jumped at the chance to open, even though he is better suited to batting in the middle order. With Zak Crawley fit again, three games as a square peg in a round hole have proved enough for Lawrence to surrender that spare batting position to Jordan Cox.

In many ways, this decision is very unlike England, who are fiercely loyal selectors and greatly value the sort of team-first attitude Lawrence showed in opening. In a perverse way, the worse it went (and it went very badly), the more likely it seemed he would be backed.

When throwing 20-year-old left-arm quick Josh Hull in for an unlikely debut against Sri Lanka, McCullum said “whatever happens, we’ll wrap our arm around him and make sure he knows he’s firmly in our sights for the future”. As unsuccessful – and chastening – as his foray to the top of the order was, Lawrence has not been afforded the same soft landing.

The decision to turn to Cox does make some sense. He has been in better form than Lawrence this year, and is four years younger. He also keeps wicket well, and will be the understudy should Jamie Smith go down. Lawrence bowls handy off-spin, but no better than Joe Root, so that is unlikely to have been a consideration.

The worrying aspect is that England do not appear to have learnt their lesson, as they still do not have opening cover in the squad. Granted, opening is a more specialised position in England (as they learned the hard way in the last few weeks) than Pakistan, where pitches are flat and the ball moves less.

But if Crawley or Ben Duckett go down injured (or ill – remember Rawalpindi 2022), England will again be asking a non-opener to open. That is likely to be Cox, who has done the job for his old county Kent and is probably better suited to it than legside-dominant Lawrence. But, unlike Lawrence, he would be doing it in his first experience of Test cricket. At least Lawrence had previously batted No 3.

Alex Lees remains a consistent county churner, while Keaton Jennings – who toured Pakistan in 2022 – is a much-improved player but is thought to be unavailable for part of the tour for personal reasons. They could even have looked at a youngster, like Durham’s Ben McKinney. Instead, they have opted for the square-peg approach once more.