Interim managing director Sir Andrew Strauss has claimed that Dan Lawrence could open in England 's upcoming three-Test series against the West Indies.
England named their 16-man squad for the tour on Tuesday, with openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed dropped after a lean Ashes series which saw them average just 10.00 and 12.83 respectively.
In their absence, Durham's Alex Lees has been handed his first call-up and he will partner Zak Crawley at the top of the order with no other opening batters in the squad.
When asked about the lack of other options, Strauss suggested that Lawrence "would be an option" if either Lees or Crawley suffered an injury or went down with Covid.
"There is no reserve opener at the moment," Strauss said.. "But Dan Lawrence has opened for Essex before so, if worst came to worst, that would be an option."
Although it is true that Lawrence has batted at the top of the order for Essex before, he has only done so on five occasions back in 2015 as an 18-year-old, passing fifty once.
There is a real absence of top-order options in the England squad, with captain Joe Root set to move up and bat at number three - something he has previously been reluctant to do in Test cricket.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Strauss said: "A lot of the troubles with our batting line-up have come at the top of the order, we just haven’t been consistent enough.
"Alex Lees comes in as a mature cricketer who knows his game well and it's an opportunity for him to stake his claim at the top of the order with Zak Crawley.
"More importantly, Joe Root has said very categorically that he wants to bat at three and take that responsibility on.
"I think that's a very fundamental shift in itself and creates a bit of space in the middle order for some of the less experienced players to play better and play more consistently."
