Dan Lawrence left agonisingly short at Edgbaston as century once again eludes England batters
Dan Lawrence was bowled for 65 at Edgbaston in England’s first innings of the third Test against Pakistan, as recounted in an article published on 23 September 2026. The dismissal cost him another opportunity to register a maiden Test century.
Lawrence has played 17 Tests for England since his first call-up in 2021 and his international career has been interrupted by a sequence of different roles in the order, having batted at Nos 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3 and endured a makeshift stint as an opener. He is described as a batter with “quicksilver wrists and homespun swagger” whose off-spin is labelled “judderman” and whose fielding is characterised as razor-sharp. Early highlights include a plucky 73 in his very first Test innings in Galle in 2021 and an unbeaten 81 at Edgbaston against New Zealand that same summer; the following March he fell just short of a century in Barbados when he plinked an easy catch to cover in the last over of the day. As a 17-year-old in 2015 he scored 161 for Essex against Surrey to become the third-youngest player to make a County Championship century.
At Edgbaston Lawrence’s stumps were flattened after he attempted to run the ball down past point off Mohammad Imran and hacked an otherwise innocuous delivery onto them; the stump microphone amplified a pained groan from him. England were in a dominant position in that innings, ahead by 160 runs with Pakistan’s makeshift bowling attack described as being there for the taking. Missing out on three figures denied him what the piece describes as the validation a Test century would provide.
Before his recall for the Pakistan series this summer Lawrence had compiled five centuries in Division One of the County Championship, including a double hundred against Hampshire. In the Pakistan series he produced half-centuries in each Test and was named player of the match at Edgbaston for his runs, two wickets and a sublime diving catch.
On the broader topic of centuries the article quotes Andy Zaltzman directly: “The personal milestone achieved within a team game is one of cricket’s distinctive charms”. The series against Pakistan produced precisely zero hundreds from either side, the first time a series in England of at least three matches has lacked a century since 1888.
The piece notes Ben Duckett is England’s only centurion this Test summer but says his form has dropped since his ton at Trent Bridge against New Zealand. It also records that by the time Harry Brook lands in South Africa for the series beginning in December he won’t have made a Test century in 17 months, yet he has averaged 53 and been England’s most consistent performer with the bat in that period.
The article contrasts Lawrence’s near-misses with Mason Crane’s recent batting milestones: Crane, after more than 10 years as a professional, recorded a maiden first-class century against Surrey earlier this summer and then scored a second first-class ton last week, also against Surrey. Crane said: “It’s so cool to be able to say you’ve got one” and added: “I’ve known Dan for so long, there’s no way he would have thought he’d be bowling to me on 99 ever, never mind twice in a matter of weeks!” — the bowler he reached both milestones off being Dan Lawrence.
The article concludes that reaching three figures in that Edgbaston innings would have strengthened Lawrence’s case for a settled place in the Test side amid heavy competition for batting positions. England face a South Africa series beginning in December in which Harry Brook’s 17-month century drought will still be in evidence while his average of 53 is noted as a measure of ongoing form.