Dan Lawrence says Ollie Robinson is ‘at the peak of his powers’ after England bowler continues remarkable series against Pakistan – and gives verdict on own position in team
Ollie Robinson is operating at the ‘peak of his powers’ and making his England team-mates believe he will take a wicket every ball.
That was the assessment from the slip cordon of Dan Lawrence, after Robinson struck twice in the opening over of Pakistan’s second innings at Edgbaston.
‘When he’s bowling, when he’s putting it in the same spot pretty much every ball, you certainly do feel in the game behind the stumps, especially when you’ve got someone pretty much at the peak of his powers,’ said Lawrence.
Robinson’s double strike took his series wickets tally to an astonishing 21 at a cost of just 6.66 runs each.
Bad weather ended play prematurely, leaving a Pakistan team yet to make 200 in five previous innings on 52 for two and requiring 268 more runs to make Joe Root’s England bat again.
At the other end of the day, Surrey’s Lawrence dominated the early scoring in a rapid start alongside Harry Brook, but like his fifth-wicket partner failed to turn a half century into a hundred, finishing with 65 off 82 balls, in a score of 453.
Dan Lawrence heaped praise on Ollie Robinson after he continued his remarkable series
Lawrence, who earlier scored 65, said the England bowler was ‘at the peak of his powers’
With three 50s in four innings, the 29-year-old might have done enough to maintain his place in the squad for the winter tour of South Africa. Jacob Bethell will be back from knee surgery by then and Sam Curran has been nominated as Ben Stokes’ successor in the all-rounder role. The rest will be determined over the next fortnight.
Incoming coach Stephen Fleming is scheduled to arrive next week and is understood to be keen on getting around the country, talking to directors of cricket and coaches about the country’s leading players.
‘In regards to position in the team, only the selectors and the captain will know that, and I’m pretty happy with how I’ve contributed and we’ll see what happens,’ Lawrence said.
‘I felt like I was playing really nicely and it was a really good surface to bat on against a tiring attack. I thought I was going to make a really big score to be honest, but it wasn’t meant to be.’
Surrey team-mate Jamie Smith and Robinson also made half centuries, although the former was unable to take his place behind the stumps due to a dislocated finger.
Jordan Cox will keep wicket for the remainder of a contest that appears destined to finish on Friday, marking the beginning of the post-Bazball era with a 3-0 whitewash.
