Though lawrence

Dan Lawrence: Former England opener Geoffrey Boycott has said batter Dan Lawrence does not have the skills of an opener, citing the way he got out in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Manchester.

Middle-order batter Lawrence was drafted in to open the batting as Zak Crawley was ruled out of the series against Sri Lanka due to a fractured finger. “Dan Lawrence is not an opening batsman. Why? His judgment around off stump is poor and his shot selection fraught with danger.”

“It was a smart alec decision to make him an opener when he bats down the order in county cricket for Essex and now Surrey. It is a specialist position; not one you can learn on the job in Test cricket,” wrote Boycott in his column for The Telegraph.