PERFORM OR WE’RE HISTORY
Lawrence admits he and other young, struggling England batsmen MUST now deliver in the Ashes... or face the axe
DAN LAWRENCE reckons the time has come for England’s young batting starlets to post some serious numbers at the Ashes – or face the axe.
Joe Root has been putting his faith in the next generation of batsmen over the past two years in a bid to head to Australia with a fully stocked line-up of big century makers.
The fact is, though, Root with six and Rory Burns with one are the only men to have scored Test hundreds in 2021.
Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Lawrence himself have been backed to deliver Down Under after enjoying a significant taste of Test cricket with limited success.
Lawrence, 24, is still waiting for that first hundred which means this trio have scored just two between them from 75 innings – nowhere near enough.
“There is massive potential,” said Lawrence.
“Obviously Rooty (below) has been our stand-out batter this year and there were some brilliant performances from Rory during the summer.
“But if we all looked at ourselves we know we didn’t perform as well as we would have liked, it’s not rocket science.
“But there is some really good potential in the shape of the likes of Zak, who is one of the most talented players I’ve ever seen, Popey, Burns, Haseeb Hameed – there are so many of us. And yet it does get to a stage where we just need to score runs because that is your currency.
“It is getting to the point where being inexperienced is not an excuse that we can keep on using, we have to score runs and if we do that we will stay in the team and if we don’t then the opposite.”
Lawrence might be feeling a little frustrated with his eight-cap career but there have been glimpses of what he is capable of and his confidence remains high.
And heading to Australia, where he had a fine Lions tour – culminating in 125 in a ‘test’ win at the MCG in 2020 – also fills him with hope of what he might be able to produce given the chance.
“It has been very frustrating,” he said.
“I’ve had some good performances like Sri Lanka on debut and in India in tough conditions, but it has been a bit too few and far between for my liking. I have got confidence, having played a few Tests now, that I am more than good enough to succeed at that level, which is brilliant but I’d like to be more consistent.
“The Lions tour to Oz has had quite a big impact on my career.
“I was really desperate that winter to get my name out there and be relentless and score runs every week. And thankfully I did.
“I know it’s different to what the Ashes is going to be. But it is nice to have something in the bank knowing I have the capability to score big runs consistently there.”
Dan Lawrence was speaking at the LV= Insurance “In With Heart” Tour, showcasing recipients of #Funds4Runs grants, a £1 million joint initiative between the ECB and LV= Insurance to support grassroots cricket. Visit lv. com/gi/cricket