Dan Lawrence's Strong Case for England Test Team

Dan Lawrence walked out at Headingley as the man asked to fill the Ben Stokes‑shaped hole in England’s Test side. Not as an all-rounder in name, not with the aura, but with a job description: score runs, offer a few overs of off-spin, and help keep the balance of a four-man pace attack.

Two Tests in, he is doing more than just keeping the seat warm.

On a difficult third day of the second Test against Pakistan, Lawrence came in with England wobbling at 83-4 and the game tilting. By the time rain dragged the players from the field, he was 50 not out from 66 balls, England 177-7 and still swinging. It was an innings that bristled with intent and composure, an innings that felt like a statement.

Michael Vaughan certainly thinks so.

“I think it is a really good selection,” the former captain told BBC Test Match Special. “He will have a period in the England side that we will enjoy watching him bat. I think in time his off-spin will come in very handy indeed.”

Lawrence had already banked a composed 51 in the first Test at Headingley. This second act, though, carried more weight. The ball misbehaved, the seamers were snarling, the scoreboard looked fragile. He responded by counter-attacking: six fours, two sixes, and a refusal to be pinned down by movement off the pitch or uneven bounce.

He didn’t just survive the conditions; he challenged them.

“He seems to read the game,” Vaughan said. “It was the right way to play at that moment. He has a quirky technique that has worked for him and is very confident. He knows his scoring areas. He is clearly a better player than when he played for England last time.”

That last line matters. Lawrence’s first stint in Test cricket never quite settled. Across 14 matches he averaged 26.84, even plugging gaps as a makeshift opener, and then disappeared from the international scene for almost two years. At 29, this recall always felt like a crossroads: one more look, or the start of something more permanent?

England’s selectors have made their bet. By choosing Lawrence, they effectively sacrificed a frontline spinner to stack the pace options, trusting him to provide part-time off-spin if required. So far, with Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue driving the series, he has sent down just one over. The quicks have dominated, and the gamble has barely been tested.

What has been tested is his batting under pressure. Coming in at 83-4 against Pakistan’s attack on a misbehaving surface, Lawrence steadied and then counter-punched, dragging England towards something workable. It was the kind of innings that sticks in selectors’ minds when the whiteboard discussions turn brutal.

The shape of this England side – four seamers, no specialist spinner, Lawrence as the auxiliary option – fits home conditions. It also looks viable for South Africa and Australia this winter, where pace will again be king. Bangladesh in the new year is a different story. There, England will almost certainly need more serious spin, and the conversation changes.

For now, Lawrence is helped by the success of that pace quartet. As long as Robinson, Archer, Atkinson and Tongue keep taking wickets, the demand for a frontline spinner at home softens, and the door stays open for a batting all-rounder who bowls a bit of off-spin.

But the selection picture is far from settled.

Jacob Bethell, currently sidelined with a knee injury, looms large over the next phase. Like Lawrence, he offers runs and part-time spin. When he returns, England must decide: does Bethell come straight back for Lawrence, or does he reclaim his spot from Jordan Cox, who has quietly made two fifties at number three while covering in this series?

There are bolder tweaks on the table as well. Cox or Bethell could be pushed up to open in place of Emilio Gay – Cox has opened in county cricket, Bethell is England’s current 50-over opener – which would then free up a reshuffle further down. Cox could slide down the order and take over the gloves from Jamie Smith.

Smith, though, has not gone quietly. He made an impressive 61 in England’s first innings and, crucially, has tidied up his wicketkeeping after a poor Ashes. Dropping a keeper who is scoring runs and improving behind the stumps is never a straightforward call.

In the middle of all this, Lawrence is trying to shut out the noise.

“It’s pointless looking to the future because it hasn’t happened yet,” he said. “I’m just trying to contribute every Test I can and give a good showing of myself. Thankfully, so far, I think I have done.”

The honesty runs through his words. He knows this is not yet a permanent posting, not after a stop-start Test career.

“Obviously thoughts creep into your head and I’m desperate, along with all the other boys, to establish myself in an England shirt, which is something I haven’t quite done in my career so far.

“It’s just about trying to take every opportunity you get and really enjoy the occasion instead of feeling nervous about the occasion. Just have fun, play the cricket that’s got me here this summer.”

Two Tests back, two fifties, runs under pressure, and the backing of a former captain who believes his spin will grow in value. For a player once on the fringes, this is as strong an early case as he could realistically make.

The real question now is not whether Dan Lawrence belongs in this England side today. It’s how hard he can make it for anyone to move him out of it when the injured and the waiting come knocking.