It goes without saying that Dan Lawrence doesn't look like a Test match opener: Nasser Hussain

In the absence of Zak Crawley, England team management called up Dan Lawrence to open with Ben Duckett in the three-match series against Sri Lanka. Lawrence played his last Test in 2022 and since then, he has done a good job for Surrey in the middle order but interestingly, England trusted him with the opener’s role against Sri Lanka. However, he was pretty ordinary in the series, scoring 120 runs in six matches.

With Crawley set to return from injury for the Pakistan series, Lawrence is once again set to lose his place in the national team. Reviewing his performance against Sri Lanka, former cricketer Nasser Hussain noted that the cricketer needs to learn the art of leaving the ball that’s outside off-stump. Hussain also added that the cricketer currently isn’t ready to be a Test opener and wants Lawrence to find answers immediately.

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“Lawrence has got to work out - whatever position he plays, because even in the middle-order they can still bowl outside off-stump - whether he is going to develop patience, become better in that area outside off or maintain ‘that’s the way I play.’ Whether it be with his county Surrey or with the England coaches, he needs to find his answer,” Hussain wrote in his column for Daily Mail.

“It goes without saying at the moment that he doesn't look like a Test match opener. Sri Lanka have bowled both sides of the wicket with the new ball, but others won’t. This regime of Rob Key and Brendon McCullum talk about picking players with high ceilings and he's still someone you'd identify as having the potential for big innings. Just not in that position, against the new Dukes ball,” he added.

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England are leading 2-0 in the three-match Test series. However, in the third Test, their batting order faltered and Sri Lanka have a brilliant opportunity to win the Oval Test. They are 94/1 after Day 3 and need 125 runs more to win the game.