Dan Lawrence: England Batter watches Roots tireless example as he prepares for the Ashes challenge. Dan Lawrence heads to the Ashes next month, knowing that England’s next generation of batterers can’t hold onto their probationary spots just because of their potential.
However, he believes that a combination of Australia’s overstretched terrain and a year of watching Joe Root’s masterclasses up close can only put him and his teammates in good shape.
In a stop-and-go first year on the England test team, Lawrence‘s past accomplishments epitomize the troubles in the team’s youth ranks, with his three well-organized half-centuries offset by four ducks and a current average of 27.23 he admits is “Very frustrating“.
However, he was not alone with his poor performance. While Root racked up six centuries in a formidable year, Rory Burns‘ Hundred against New Zealand in June remains England’s only other triple-digit score in 12 tests.
“It does get to a stage where we just need to score runs,” Lawrence said during a #Funds4Runs event in Leyton. “That is your currency, and it gets to a stage where being inexperienced might not be an excuse that you can keep on using. We need to score runs, and if we do that we’ll stay in the team, and if we don’t, then we don’t unfortunately.”
Nevertheless, Lawrence’s initial displays – including a matchwinning half-century on debut in Galle and 96 runs on a spinners’ deck in Ahmedabad – have given him confidence that he is “more than good enough” to succeed in the long term.
And, after starring on the England Lions tour of Australia two winters ago, he believes he has plenty of good memories to fall back on when the Ashes action gets underway in just under two months’ time.
“It’s had quite a big impact on my career,” Lawrence admitted after finishing the second XI as the Lions’ featured artist on the first-class leg of his tour in February and March 2020, he won his first unofficial test in Australia after seven empty seasons.
In 2021, Root has so far scored 1,455 runs to 66.13, with four runs over 180 and nearly 1,000 more runs than England’s second-most effective hitter (Burns at 479).
And when it comes to indefatigability, Lawrence knows that he and his teammates earned a place in the ring this year for one of the most impressive race-collecting feats in English testing history.
“I think we’ll look at ourselves honestly, we didn’t perform as well as we would have liked, and that’s not rocket science, that’s just obvious to see,” Dan Lawrence said.
“We didn’t score as many runs we wanted, but there really is good potential obviously. “I’ve had some performances. Sri Lanka on debut, a couple of decent knocks in India in tough conditions, and then a decent one at home [against New Zealand], but it’s been a little bit too few and far between for my liking.
“I’ve definitely got confidence, having played a few Tests now, that I’m more than good enough to succeed at that level, which is brilliant. I’d just like to be a little bit more consistent and obviously, that will come with time and put all my effort into being the best cricketer I can be. I’m sure if I do that, then I can be successful for a good amount of time.”
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