England have not got much wrong when it comes to selection during this Test summer.
There were decisions at its head that ranged from eyebrow-raising to outright controversial: to drop both Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow, to axe Jack Leach, and to retire James Anderson, as Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum sought to refine and evolve their side.
But in came Jamie Smith to take the gloves and instantly look as if he belonged. In came Shoaib Bashir, promoted to first-choice spinner to claim a fourth innings five-for against West Indies at Trent Bridge. And in came Gus Atkinson, the man of the season, to take 33 wickets in his first five Test matches and, ludicrously, to strum a crisp, clean hundred at Lord’s.
Speaking on Thursday ahead of the Third Test against Sri Lanka, McCullum admitted that the newcomers have “exceeded expectations”.
“You always hope that guys go well early, but you are not after that instant gratification when you pick them,” the New Zealander explained. “If you are, I think you’re guessing.”
At this stage, England’s selection committee has earned the right to take the odd punt and there is still one more to play out this summer, on seamer Josh Hull.
The 20-year-old has been handed a debut at The Oval this week, but is yet to be involved after England were asked to bat and bad light took chunks out of the opening day. Still, it would take a brave man to bet against that six-foot-seven-inch gamble paying off, too.
The one blot on the selectorial record has come in the case of Dan Lawrence, who is, of course, no newcomer at all and, on the evidence of five innings in this series, no Test match opener either.
The 27-year-old’s struggles have come as no great shock, since he is predominantly an aggressive middle-order player and was always a long shot to succeed as partner to Ben Duckett.
Still, there is an unfortunate cruelty in the way a run of games so long awaited has gone quite so badly, perhaps badly enough to see a more suitable opening somewhere down the line fall the way of someone else.
Lawrence spent most of the first two years of the Bazball era running drinks and loitering for a window that at last opened at the start of this series, courtesy of Zak Crawley’s finger injury. In many ways, Lawrence was always on a hiding to not much, knowing Crawley would be certain to return in Pakistan and New Zealand this autumn once fit, but having not played Test cricket since March 2022, he declared himself bang up for the task.
Were England playing Australia or India this summer, you suspect they would have summoned a specialist opener, perhaps recalling one of the Bazball originals in Alex Lees, or Lancashire’s Keaton Jennings. As it were, against what has proven a flimsy Sri Lankan side, picking Lawrence felt unlikely to be costly and it was difficult to begrudge him the chance.
A pair of thirties at Old Trafford were a steady enough start, but things have gone south since, with two single figure scores at Lord’s and then another via a horrible dismissal on the first morning here.
Under gloomy skies, Lawrence was determined to play as an opener probably should, offering due respect to conditions and reining in his more cavalier instincts. He took 31 minutes and 11 deliveries to get off the mark.
The trouble was that at the other end, Duckett was motoring, already on 21 by that stage, punishing a Sri Lankan all-seam attack that found little movement or consistency of line.
An opportunity to trial a genuine back-up opener has been missed by England
Caught between two bus stops, Lawrence eventually went on the attack but got into a horrible tangle trying to hook Lahiru Kumara. Shoulders slumped, head bowed, he was halfway to the boundary by the time Pathum Nissanka completed a simple catch.
On England’s part, an opportunity to trial a genuine back-up opener has been missed. They are no closer to knowing what Plan B might be if something were to disrupt the prolific Duckett-Crawley partnership in Australia next winter, except that Lawrence will surely not be it.
For Lawrence, meanwhile, there will (weather and scoreline permitting) be one more innings here to showcase his undoubted talent, with his regular berth as spare batter in England’s touring squad potentially on the line ahead of next month’s trip to Pakistan. Jordan Cox, who has the role in this squad, is waiting in the wings and in terrific form, averaging 65 and striking at more than 70 in the Championship this year.
Lawrence, who has operated as Surrey’s frontline spinner for part of this summer, may be saved by his bowling. Spinning all-rounders Will Jacks and Liam Livingstone were both picked for the last tour to Pakistan two years ago, where on flat pitches Stokes wanted as many bowling options as possible.
There again, as McCullum said on Thursday, it is hard to make plans for anything when England still do not know where that series will even be played.
