"Being inexperienced is not an excuse we can keep on using" - Dan Lawrence ahead of the Ashes 2021-22 series
England middle-order batter Dan Lawrence believes the team's young batters must step up in the Ashes series, and cannot use their inexperience as an excuse for long. England will tour Australia later this year to play five Tests, where they'll hope to regain the urn for the first time since 2015.
Dan Lawrence is one of the specialist batters selected by coach Chris Silverwood for the tour Down Under. The 24-year old is among five frontline batters alongside captain Joe Root, Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley and Dawid Malan.
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Dan Lawrence feels England have immense potential. However, barring Joe Root, not many have clicked in the team's recent Tests.
"I definitely think there is massive potential. Obviously Rooty has been our stand out batter this year, and there were some brilliant performances from Rory Burns during the summer. But if we all looked at ourselves we know we didn’t perform as well as we would have liked, it’s not rocket science," Lawrence said as quoted by Daily Mirror.
The 24-year old highlighted that runs are what secures players their spots and that using inexperience as an excuse would get them nowhere.
"But there is some really good potential in the shape of the likes of Zak, who is one of the most talented players I’ve ever seen, Popey, Burns, Haseeb, there are so many of us," said Lawrence."
"And yet it does get to a stage where we just need to score runs because that is your currency. It is getting to the point where being inexperienced is not an excuse that we can keep on using; we have to score runs and if we do that, we will stay in the team, and if we don’t then the opposite," continued Lawrence.
Lawrence has had a middling career so far, having played eight Tests after debuting in February 2021. The right-handed batsman has 354 runs in eight Tests at 27.23 with three fifties.
"So far it has been very frustrating to be honest" - Dan Lawrence
Lawrence has said that his Test performaces haven't been as per expectations, as he has struggled for consistency. However, the Essex batsman is confident of succeeding in the longest format of the game moving forward. The youngster added:
"So far, it has been very frustrating, to be honest. I’ve had some good performances like Sri Lanka on debut and in India in tough conditions, but it has been a bit too few and far between for my liking."
"I have got confidence, having played a few Tests now, that I am more than good enough to succeed at that level, which is brilliant, but I’d like to be more consistent."
The Ashes Test series gets underway on 8 December at the Gabba in Brisbane.