DAN’S THE MAN
Silverwood has no fears about giving Lawrence a Test debut
ENGLAND head coach Chris Silverwood insists Dan Lawrence has the technique and temperament to flourish when he makes his Test debut this week.
Like Essex colleague Tom Westley, who was axed after five matches, the 23-year- old has a preference for the on-side, and he is known on the county circuit as Legside Larry.
However, he looked accomplished in making an unbeaten 46 in intra-squad practice ahead of the first Test in Galle, which starts on Thursday, and has Silverwood’s backing to make the step up in a top six missing Rory Burns, Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope.
‘You don’t know until they try,’ said Silverwood. ‘He is strong on his leg side but there is no reason why that can’t be a strength and he can adapt that to Test cricket.
‘I think he’s ready. I’ve known Dan for a long time now having coached the Essex second team when he was coming through and he has always played his way.
‘He’s a fighter with lots of skill. He does not get flustered. He doesn’t care who the opposition are. He loves scoring runs, and I saw those characteristics in him as a young man coming through.
‘ He’s s howing t he s a me characteristics now, so it is great to see the consistency. But equally his knowledge of the game and how he goes about playing his skills, and adapts to situations, has got stronger and stronger.’
With so much inexperience in the batting, there is an onus on captain Joe Root to make greater personal contributions. He has not scored a hundred since a double in November 2019, the second Test of Silverwood’s tenure as coach, a sequence of nine matches.
Silverwood remains as unruffled as Root on the issue, however.
‘He is one of our best players and has the ability to take anybody down,’ said the head coach. ‘When Joe is scoring runs, the England side are stronger for it.’
The England team will get their first glimpse of the pitch being used for the first Test when they attend one of t he world’s most picturesque venues this morning.
Surfaces on a ground developed on the ramparts of an historic Dutch fort tend to take spin. But England will have to make do without t heir most s enior practitioner of this art in Moeen Ali, who will not end his isolation following a positive Covid test until 24 hours before the toss.
It is debatable whether Chris Woakes, a close contact of Moeen’s in transit from the UK, will be available either — with Silverwood conceding ‘timelines are tight’ following his own period away from the squad.
But regardless of who walks onto the field at the start of the two-Test series, Silverwood believes England have the quality to replicate the series victory of 2018-19 and therefore maintain outside hopes of reaching the World Test Championship final this summer.
‘It is difficult to win here,’ he said. ‘We have to respect that this Sri Lanka team are very good in their own conditions.
‘But do I believe we can win? Of course, I always believe that our team can beat anyone.’