LONDON (AP) — Dan Lawrence was recalled by England after two years on Thursday to play in the first test against Pakistan and Jacob Bethell was ruled out of the three-match series by a right knee injury.
The post-Ben Stokes era starts in Leeds on Aug. 19 and Surrey batting allrounder Lawrence will have the first crack at trying to fill the prodigious shoes of the former test captain.
He is set to bat at No. 6 with wicketkeeper Jamie Smith likely to slot in one place lower down, while Bethell being sidelined has opened the door for Jordan Cox at first drop in the batting order.
Cox's own injury misfortune meant he made his test debut only in June against New Zealand at The Oval, where he was down at No. 7.
Fast bowler Brydon Carse missed the 2-1 loss against the Black Caps because of an injury to his right hand but he was named in England's 16-man squad for the first two tests under returning captain Joe Root, with Marcus Trescothick interim coach in the absence of the newly appointed Stephen Fleming, who had a say in selection.
Former vice-captain Ollie Pope was back after being discarded during the Ashes series in Australia where he averaged 20.83 before making way for Bethell. Seamer Sam Cook was also in, after his lone test appearance against Zimbabwe in May 2025.
Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir was retained although it remained to be seen if he keeps his spot in the XI after confirmation that Lawrence, who bowls off-spin, will definitely be in the team.
Lawrence has been in the international wilderness since the last of his 14 test appearances in September 2024, having struggled batting out of position as an opener against Sri Lanka.
He has, though, been in a rich vein of form in division one of the County Championship, averaging 65.66 with five centuries in eight outings this season.
Bowling allrounders Sam Curran and Rehan Ahmed were the other options to try to balance the side in the absence of Stokes, who ended his storied England career following the series defeat by the Kiwis after 7,273 runs and 252 wickets in tests.
England has lost seven of its last nine tests and not won a series since December 2024. It also plays Pakistan at Lord's and Birmingham.
FILE -England's Dan Lawrence bats against West Indies during day five of their second cricket Test match at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, March 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan, File)
LONDON (AP) — A British sociologist who became famous as the youngest Black professor ever appointed at the University of Cambridge has resigned after the university said it opened an investigation into “new information” about his academic qualifications.
Professor Jason Arday, who was 37 when he became a Cambridge professor in 2023, announced his decision late Wednesday following weeks of allegations about plagiarism in his academic work and questions surrounding claims he previously made about his athletic and fundraising accomplishments.
“While criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, what I have experienced has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement,” Arday said in a statement released by the Good Law Project, a campaigning legal organization. “The relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love.”
Arday’s appointment at Cambridge underscored his personal story of overcoming dyslexia, developmental delays and autism that he said left him non-verbal until the age of 11 and illiterate until his late teens.
Questions about his qualifications were raised publicly last month by Nathan Cofnas, a one-time Cambridge philosophy researcher who left the university after his criticism of diversity, equity and inclusion policies sparked widespread protests.
On July 24, the Times of London published an analysis of Arday’s 2015 Ph.D. thesis highlighting what it said were multiple examples of passages that were “identical or near-identical” to an earlier paper written by another researcher.
Cambridge initially stood by Arday, saying that the plagiarism allegations had been investigated by Liverpool John Moores University, which awarded Arday’s doctorate.
That changed Wednesday when Cambridge opened its inquiry.
“The University of Cambridge has begun an investigation following new information about Professor Arday’s qualifications and honorary appointments,” the university said in a statement. “In order to ensure a fair process, we will not comment further until this has concluded.
The Times of London said Cambridge decided to investigate after it presented new evidence that some of Arday’s research was “fabricated” and contained “impossible” evidence.
In an interview with the newspaper published last week, Arday denied plagiarism but admitted to some mistakes that he said were partly due to a lack of supervision when he was working on his doctorate.
Arday continued to defend himself in his resignation statement, saying his decision “should not be interpreted as a loss of faith in scholarship.”
“Nor should it be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me’” he said. “It is simply the decision of someone who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure.”
Torchbearer Jason Arday carries the Olympic Flame on the Torch Relay leg between Sutton and Merton, in London, July 23, 2012. (Joe Giddens/LOCOG/PA via AP)
