<\/p>\n
Dan Lawrence said he was \u201cdesperate to establish myself in an England shirt\u201d after taking some solid steps in the right direction on a rain-affected third day of the second Test against Pakistan.<\/p>\n
In a chill breeze and with frequent interruptions from the weather, the battle for England\u2019s batting spots heated up in the continued absence of the injured Jacob Bethell. Emilio Gay\u2019s hard-fought 31 was ended by a grubber before Lawrence scored his second half-century of the series \u2013 matching Jordan Cox on that metric \u2013 to put England in control, 177 for seven at stumps to stand 357 ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve really tried not to think about that,\u201d Lawrence said about the contest for places, after finishing the day unbeaten on 50. \u201cI\u2019ve tried to just enjoy every day of being here and trying to contribute to the team. It\u2019s pointless looking into the future. I\u2019m just trying to give a good showing of myself and thankfully I think I have done.<\/p>\n \u201cThoughts creep into your head and I\u2019m desperate along with all the other boys to establish myself in an England shirt. It\u2019s just about trying to take every opportunity you get instead of feeling nervous about the occasion, just have fun and play the cricket that\u2019s got me here this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawrence\u2019s last run in the team, three Tests against Sri Lanka in 2024, came as opener and without great effect, three single-digit scores and three in the thirties. \u201cI got wrapped up in a lot of things and I was thinking about my position and what I needed to do to stay in the team, instead of just enjoying it and realising how lucky I am to play for England,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mentality since coming back has been completely different. Hopefully, we get a good series win and then we\u2019ll see what happens in the coming months and years.\u201d<\/p>\n As a middle-order batter by preference he does not covet Gay\u2019s position as opener \u2013 \u201cIt has been great fun batting in a position that is a little bit closer to what I\u2019m used to,\u201d he said, after a third outing at No 6 \u2013 and certainly took no pleasure in the 26-year-old\u2019s dismissal, trapped lbw by a Mohammad Abbas delivery that kept low. \u201cHe played beautifully last night, dug in really hard and fought for the team.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully that bit of bad luck he got, he gets all the good luck next week. He can take a lot of confidence in how he played.<\/p>\n \u201cTo get off the mark I had a massive big whooshka and edged it over the slips. That could easily have been caught and I\u2019d have looked really stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n
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