Hussain Would Have Picked 'Outstanding' Lawrence for Second Test — But England Selectors Disagree
The Case for Dan Lawrence Is Getting Hard to Ignore
Nasser Hussain has come out swinging in support of Surrey batter Dan Lawrence, insisting he would have handed the right-hander a Test recall for England's second match against New Zealand at The Oval. Speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, the former England captain was unequivocal — Lawrence deserves to be back in the international setup, and not simply because of what he produced this week.
And what a week it was. Lawrence compiled 218 from 190 balls in his first innings against Hampshire in the County Championship, then followed it up with a blistering 101 from just 64 balls — featuring five sixes and seven fours — as Surrey fought to salvage a draw in a rain-ravaged match at The Oval. The weather ultimately denied his side victory, with 92 overs lost to bad weather across the fixture, but Lawrence's personal contribution was impossible to overlook. In total, he struck 319 runs across two innings in a single game.
Hussain: 'He's Been Outstanding'
Hussain was careful to stress that his support for Lawrence isn't simply a knee-jerk reaction to one explosive County Championship performance. "I'd have gone Dan Lawrence and not just on the back of two hundreds there this week," he said. "Since then he's been outstanding, and bowls a bit of off-spin — that's the role Dan Lawrence does at Surrey at The Oval. He's batting back where he should be batting in the middle order anywhere from four to seven. I personally would have gone with Dan Lawrence. I would've said that before this championship game too, especially at The Oval."
The numbers back up Hussain's enthusiasm. Lawrence is currently averaging 78 in Division One of the County Championship and sits as the leading run scorer in that division this season. That sort of sustained output isn't a purple patch — it's a statement of intent from a player who last pulled on an England shirt as an opener against Sri Lanka back in September 2024, earning the 14th Test cap of his career.
Crawley Takes a Step Back
Adding a further twist to the selection conversation is the news that Zak Crawley — who recently lost his England place — will miss Kent's next two County Championship fixtures in order to "recharge". Crawley's absence from the Test side has already sparked widespread debate, and the fact that he's now stepping away from county cricket briefly only intensifies scrutiny on how England manage their top-order options heading into the remainder of the summer.
For Lawrence, the contrast could scarcely be more stark. While others take time out, he's been piling up runs at an extraordinary rate and making the strongest possible case for a return in front of the very selectors who will be watching at The Oval. Hussain's verdict — delivered with characteristic directness — is that the opportunity has already been missed once, and England's decision-makers would be wise not to let it slip by again.
What Comes Next?
Whether England's selectors share Hussain's view remains to be seen. The second Test against New Zealand presents a genuine opportunity to blood Lawrence in conditions he knows intimately, playing his home ground cricket. His all-round value — useful off-spin to complement his middle-order batting — only strengthens the argument further in a squad where flexibility is increasingly prized under the Bazball philosophy.
One thing is clear: if Lawrence keeps producing numbers like these, the conversation isn't going away. Hussain said what plenty of cricket watchers are already thinking, and the runs are there in black and white for the selectors to consider. The question now is whether they act on them before this summer's opportunities begin to run out.
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