Learning from Sir Alastair Cook and eyeing England... Dan Lawrence has the makings of a future star

NICK HOWSON: Fresh from Essex's momentous title success, the 22-year-old discusses his success across formats and plans for the winter

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If the England selectors continue their recent trend of choosing players for Tests with a solid technique and filling their white-ball side with success stories from the Blast, then Dan Lawrence is perfectly placed to benefit.

Sure, he might have been overlooked for the November tour in New Zealand but his turn will come.

Across the County Championship, One-Day Cup and Vitality Blast, few were as consistent for double winners Essex as the 22-year-old.

Only Sir Alastair Cook averaged more against the red ball in 14 games. Lawrence was only behind Tom Westley in eight 50-over matches, while no-one scored at better than 35.09 in 14 or more 20-over contests.

Of the county venues around the country, few have been more difficult to bat on than Chelmsford, home of the two highest wicket-takers in the Championship since 2017 in Simon Harmer and Jamie Porter. But Lawrence, born less than 30 miles from the CloudFm County Ground, has looked at home.

"It has been quite tricky batting all year," he told The Cricketer. "At Essex we play on some dicey wickets so I am pretty happy with my returns for the year. My target was to contribute to more wins this season. I feel like I've done that quite a lot.

"The runs don't always reflect how well we're playing. I think the selectors know that. Hopefully they're keeping a keen eye."

Remarkably, Lawrence only has one appearance for the England Lions to his name - an outing against South Africa A - partly thanks to injury.

That will surely change this winter, particularly when the team go to Australia for matches in February and March. It was on the tour Down Under that Lawrence's last opportunity with the second string was curtailed with a hand blow.

To make the step up and join the clutch of middle-order batsman awaiting their opportunity - Sam Northeast, Sam Hain and Tom Kohler-Cadmore are among that group - Lawrence knows he must start to convert more of his starts. His five fifties were added to by just one century this term.

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Dan Lawrence was a key part of the Essex side that completed a unique double

It would be foolish to ignore Lawrence's contribution to Essex winning the first half of a historic double in the Blast. He went to a half-century four times in 13 innings at a strike-rate in excess of 150. Outings in a handful of T20 franchise leagues beckon.

"The Lions would be nice," he stated. "I am hoping to play some T20 competitions in the winter and keep improving that because I've had a really good T20 season. If I can get my name out there hopefully I have a successful winter doing that."

When you consider that Lawrence has the knowledge of Cook, who has over 12,000 runs to his name, to tap into, his gradual improvements should come as no surprise. He had another clinique to enjoy on the fourth day of the title decider against Somerset with a seventh half-century of the season helping to secure the crown.

"You'd be silly not to use Cookie," he gleamed. "He is a massive role-model for me and a really good person. He is always going to score runs but the good thing about him is he is really honest.

"If you're not doing something right then he'll tell you. He is a brilliant person to have around. I badger him about cricket all day long and he loves it. Off-the-field he is brilliant as well."

Despite this Championship being Lawrence's second in three seasons, he still remains one of the young breed.

Ominously for the rest of the county scene, there are a clutch of youngsters still to reach their peak years. Porter is only 26, the exciting Sam Cook just 22. Therefore, this momentous double could well be the start of something, rather than the end.

"We have a really special group of men," he said. "We manage to win games of cricket from positions where you'd never even think of winning.

"In the T20 we had to win seven games in a row and somehow we managed to nearly do [it] and it was incredible. We have a winning mentality and culture and if we lose we've all bitterly disappointed. That is why we have such belief that we can win from any situation."

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