England needed the Pakistan series to fix their batting balance muddle. At the halfway point, the picture is still unclear.
Even with Stephen Fleming yet to arrive in England, he'll be gathering data from the Test series against Pakistan to inform the big selection calls that await him. So far in his notebook, he'll have jotted down that Emilio Gay has been caught between the keeper and second slip in all but one seven of his Test innings so far, and that while Jordan Cox has made two fifties, he also denied Dan Lawrence, his rival – sorry, teammate – to do the same with a textbook barbequing.
When England named their squad for the first Test, it appeared a collection of names were competing for one or two spots, when everyone was back fit. Once Jacob Bethell recovers from his knee injury, he would reclaim his No.3 position, almost regardless of how well Cox did covering for his absence. That would leave Dan Lawrence's position down the order, the one in most jeopardy. Before it was announced that Curran would undergo surgery for his groin injury, Lawrence could have been ousted before the end of the series. Now, he likely has one more Test to present his case as the best way for England to balance their side in the post-Stokes era.
So far, Lawrence has been passable with the bat and had next to no opportunities with the ball. He had a prime opportunity to assert himself with the bat today, before he was sold a dummy by Cox. As the state of play stands, Lawrence hasn't done enough to overrule the possibility of Curran coming in should he be fit for the South Africa series. But, his time with the ball could come during this Test. Ali Usman sent nine overs down on day one, and England will have to bowl Pakistan out in the fourth innings. Equally, England's four-man pace attack was proven as an effective balance at Headingley. They could yet choose to stick with Lawrence when Bethell returns as a combined part-time spin attack.
That leaves Cox, who scored his second Test half-century in three matches today, as the odd man out. It's the position Cox has been in throughout his convuluted Test journey so far. Injured out of what was set to be his maiden Test in New Zealand almost two years ago, Bethell came in and took a foothold. Crowbarred in at No.7 earlier this summer at The Oval, he showed enough for England to keep him around, but not in the XI. His 73 at Headingley, and now his half-century in difficult conditions at Lord's where he steadied the ship after three wickets went down in seven overs, is the most compelling case for his inclusion yet.
The other place he could fit in is replacing an embattled Emilio Gay at the top of the order. Having made a promising start to his Test career with two half centuries in his first three games, Gay has stalled, and getting out the same way will be the concern. There's plenty to like about Gay as a Test opener – his sumptuous straight drives and even temperament. But tougher tests will await on fast, bouncy South African tracks.
Cox has opened the batting in county cricket before, and he showed himself more than a dasher coming out in the fifth over of the day at Lord's. He navigated a tough working over from Mohammad Abbas under cloudy skies before thumping back-to-back fours to reach his fifty. His shot to get out was loose, requiring a fine catch from Salman Agha, and there were plenty that went through the slips. But he's shown enough to work with. Fleming will also find few other opening options on his tour of the counties when he arrives in England, save 21-year-old Ben McKinney currently tearing up as Durham storm to the Division Two title.
Having started the Pakistan series as somewhere in between stop-gaps and first picks, Lawrence and Cox could both find themselves edging closer towards the latter. A definitive contribution, however, would go a long way in sealing the deal.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
