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To what lengths would you go to fulfil your dreams?

Even if that chance does arise, but you’re probably (or very definitely) underqualified, do you take your shot?

As much as I want a spot on the line-up at Glastonbury, things would go south pretty quickly once Emily Eavis and co realised I can’t sing or play an instrument.

What about when a footballer says they will play in goal as long as they get in the team. Would you really, mate? Sounds like a great idea until the ball is being picked out of the net for the eighth time.

Which brings us to Dan Lawrence, England’s makeshift opener for three Tests last summer after Zak Crawley suffered a broken finger. A middle-order batter by trade, a place at the top of the order looked about as comfortable as the back end of a pantomime horse.

Still, the Surrey man had his chance. Put in Lawrence’s position, who can honestly say they would have declined?

Granted, Lawrence is in a vastly superior position to open for England than yours truly headlining the Pyramid Stage. He opened in his younger days and batting is batting, right?

Yes and no. Opening is a specialist position, suited to some and not others. The challenge of fresh pace bowlers armed with a new ball. The decisions of whether to play or leave, attack or defend, how best to set the tone for those who follow.

For Lawrence, a natural aggressor, an internal battle with what an opener should bat like was one he ultimately did not win.

“I struggled with the balance of wanting to play a certain style, which is really aggressive, and the other part in my head saying ‘you’re an opener; you need to see off the new ball’,” says Lawrence.

It’s hard not to feel for him. An entire 14-Test career has been stop-start. Just as Lawrence looked most at home, batting at number four on the 2022 West Indies tour that ended Joe Root’s reign as captain, he got injured to be ruled out of the beginning of Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum regime.

Those early Bazballing days may have been a perfect fit for Lawrence, but instead the former Essex player had to wait more than two years between caps, carrying drinks in all parts of the globe.

Against Sri Lanka, scores of 30 and 34 in the first Test at Old Trafford were encouraging, only to be followed by three in single figures.

“The messaging in the England dressing room is be as free as you want to be,” Lawrence says. “It was just the pressure I put on myself.

“I was really desperate to keep a spot. I’d waited a long time. When you get that chance you want to make the most of it.”

The second innings in the third Test at The Oval was Lawrence’s final opportunity to remain in the team, or at least get a spot on a winter tour. A skittish run-a-ball 35 was the knock of a man necking pints in the last chance saloon. It looked worse in the context of a sloppy England defeat.

“I thought ‘if it is my last innings, I want to go out on my own terms’,” he says. “I just thought ‘I’m going to go out there and try to give it a smack’.

“I wouldn’t normally want to play that aggressively, but I thought I’d have some fun and see what happens.”

It wasn’t enough. Lawrence was overlooked for the tours of Pakistan and New Zealand, and knows he needs stacks of runs for Surrey to get back in the frame.

It might be that one door closing opens another. As England regenerate their white-ball teams, Lawrence could be one to benefit.

“When I first started the white-ball team was incredibly hard to get into, a brilliant side that was winning all the time,” says Lawrence.

“Now there’s an opportunity to put my name in the mix. There are some serious players, but no reason why I can’t be involved in that conversation.”

For various reasons – usually because of what the players say – England have been the subject of criticism for not caring enough.

The truth is the players care deeply and, while Lawrence articulates his disappointment, he is not bitter at being asked to perform an unfamiliar role, then dropped when it did not work out.

“I would have felt fairly hard done by had I not opened the batting, having been around the team for that long,” says Lawrence.

“If someone says ‘do you want to go and open the batting for England?’ I don’t think it’s an unfair thing. It’s an honour and really exciting.

“It didn’t pan out but, if it did, then who knows where I would be right now?

To what lengths would you go to fulfil your dreams?

Even if that chance does arise, but you’re probably (or very definitely) underqualified, do you take your shot?

As much as I want a spot on the line-up at Glastonbury, things would go south pretty quickly once Emily Eavis and co realised I can’t sing or play an instrument.

What about when a footballer says they will play in goal as long as they get in the team. Would you really, mate? Sounds like a great idea until the ball is being picked out of the net for the eighth time.

Which brings us to Dan Lawrence, England’s makeshift opener for three Tests last summer after Zak Crawley suffered a broken finger. A middle-order batter by trade, a place at the top of the order looked about as comfortable as the back end of a pantomime horse.

Still, the Surrey man had his chance. Put in Lawrence’s position, who can honestly say they would have declined?

Granted, Lawrence is in a vastly superior position to open for England than yours truly headlining the Pyramid Stage. He opened in his younger days and batting is batting, right?

Yes and no. Opening is a specialist position, suited to some and not others. The challenge of fresh pace bowlers armed with a new ball. The decisions of whether to play or leave, attack or defend, how best to set the tone for those who follow.

For Lawrence, a natural aggressor, an internal battle with what an opener should bat like was one he ultimately did not win.

“I struggled with the balance of wanting to play a certain style, which is really aggressive, and the other part in my head saying ‘you’re an opener; you need to see off the new ball’,” says Lawrence.

It’s hard not to feel for him. An entire 14-Test career has been stop-start. Just as Lawrence looked most at home, batting at number four on the 2022 West Indies tour that ended Joe Root’s reign as captain, he got injured to be ruled out of the beginning of Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum regime.

Those early Bazballing days may have been a perfect fit for Lawrence, but instead the former Essex player had to wait more than two years between caps, carrying drinks in all parts of the globe.

Against Sri Lanka, scores of 30 and 34 in the first Test at Old Trafford were encouraging, only to be followed by three in single figures.

“The messaging in the England dressing room is be as free as you want to be,” Lawrence says. “It was just the pressure I put on myself.

“I was really desperate to keep a spot. I’d waited a long time. When you get that chance you want to make the most of it.”

The second innings in the third Test at The Oval was Lawrence’s final opportunity to remain in the team, or at least get a spot on a winter tour. A skittish run-a-ball 35 was the knock of a man necking pints in the last chance saloon. It looked worse in the context of a sloppy England defeat.

“I thought ‘if it is my last innings, I want to go out on my own terms’,” he says. “I just thought ‘I’m going to go out there and try to give it a smack’.

“I wouldn’t normally want to play that aggressively, but I thought I’d have some fun and see what happens.”

It wasn’t enough. Lawrence was overlooked for the tours of Pakistan and New Zealand, and knows he needs stacks of runs for Surrey to get back in the frame.

It might be that one door closing opens another. As England regenerate their white-ball teams, Lawrence could be one to benefit.

“When I first started the white-ball team was incredibly hard to get into, a brilliant side that was winning all the time,” says Lawrence.

“Now there’s an opportunity to put my name in the mix. There are some serious players, but no reason why I can’t be involved in that conversation.”

For various reasons – usually because of what the players say – England have been the subject of criticism for not caring enough.

The truth is the players care deeply and, while Lawrence articulates his disappointment, he is not bitter at being asked to perform an unfamiliar role, then dropped when it did not work out.

“I would have felt fairly hard done by had I not opened the batting, having been around the team for that long,” says Lawrence.

“If someone says ‘do you want to go and open the batting for England?’ I don’t think it’s an unfair thing. It’s an honour and really exciting.

“It didn’t pan out but, if it did, then who knows where I would be right now?