DAN LAWRENCE is earmarked to play in England’s first Test of the post-Ben Stokes era with Jordan Cox batting at number three because Jacob Bethell is out of the whole Pakistan series.

Former vice-captain Ollie Pope returns as batting and wicketkeeping cover, while seamers Brydon Carse and Sam Cook have also been recalled in a 16-strong squad for the first two Tests at Headingley and Lord’s this month.

National selector Marcus North revealed Sam Curran was under strong consideration to succeed the recently retired Stokes but an ongoing niggle means England have decided to reinforce their batting.

The last of Lawrence’s 14 Test appearances was in September 2024 as a makeshift opener, but he will be carded at six after impressing for Surrey this year with five Rothesay County Championship hundreds.

While premier spinner Shoaib Bashir has been retained, Lawrence’s part-time off-breaks mean new captain Joe Root is likely to field four front-line pacemen in the series opener at Leeds, starting on August 19.

“It would be very easy to get hung up on the fact we’ve lost Ben,” North said. “But it’s not just picking an all-rounder for an all-rounder’s sake. If we are going to pick a like-for-like player, they need to be at the level and skillset to be successful at Test level.

“Sam is certainly someone we identify as that player. We don’t feel physically he’s quite right there. He’s someone that we really value highly and we see playing a role in the future for us as an all-rounder.

“We’ve gone with Lawrence as we feel he gives us our strongest batting line-up. We feel he’s an advanced, better player than he was when he last played for England.”

Bethell injured his right knee during England’s one-day international series win over India, ruling him out of The Hundred, and no timescale was provided for his comeback.

That has opened the door for Cox, who made his long-awaited debut at number seven during England’s 2-1 series loss to New Zealand in June, but he bats at four for Essex and has experience of opening with former county Kent.

“We wouldn’t be putting this guy at three if we didn’t feel he was capable to fulfil that role,” North said. “He’s got plenty of character about him, he’s a huge competitor and quietly confident.”

Pope made way for Bethell last winter during another torturous Ashes series, where he averaged a fraction over 20 in three Tests, but his fine form for Surrey this year plus his experience in a squad lacking seniority has seen him brought back.

Carse also returns after a hand injury that has sidelined him since the end of the Ashes where he was England’s leading wicket-taker and he is one of seven seamers, alongside Cook, capped once against Zimbabwe last summer, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, Ollie Robinson and Matthew Fisher.

North confirmed Robinson’s partner is due to give birth in the next “seven to 10 days” that could place doubts over his involvement in the first Test, which starts three days after the end of The Hundred.

“We might have some bowlers playing a final on Sunday and the Test starts on Wednesday,” North said. “But we’ve got all bases covered.”

New head coach Stephen Fleming has had some input into the squad even though he does not takes charge until this winter, with Marcus Trescothick overseeing the Pakistan series on an interim basis.

“We’ve got to make sure our selection and our philosophy is aligned with Stephen,” North said. “It would make no sense for us to move forward through this series and be contradictive to where Stephen sees us as a team moving forward.

“He was very much a part of all the meetings and discussions and contributed where need be.”

England squad for first two Tests against Pakistan: J Root (captain), J Archer, G Atkinson, S Bashir, H Brook, B Carse, S Cook, J Cox, B Duckett, M Fisher, E Gay, D Lawrence, O Pope, O Robinson, J Smith and J Tongue.