England Lions 279 for 3 (Lawrence 97, Brook 64*, Olivier 2-39) trail South Africans 433 (Zondo 86, van der Dussen 75, Verreynne 62, Jansen 54, Overton 5-74) by 154 runs

Lawrence's presence at three was no coincidence. The consistency of a top six picked for the first four Tests of the summer still has a mix of certainties and dead certainties. And so, with the permanence of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and skipper Ben Stokes at four, five and six, first-drop, where Ollie Pope resides, is the most available and natural fit for the Essex batter to add to his 11 caps so far. Having already impressed Stokes with his approach, now was the time to get Brendon on side.

With a fast outfield, steady pitch and clear skies above, he showcased his typically classy yet uncompromising strokeplay: tidy drives down the ground, short-arm pulls off front and back foot, dabs into the off side. All occasionally garnished with those wrists to ensure the field was running about more than he was. He struck 17 fours, and 10 of those came in the 48 balls it took to move to 50.

Under the new management trio of Key, McCullum and Stokes, an average of 29 across 21 innings will not be used as a measure of Lawrence's credentials. But importantly, the green shoots in that period, notably the three half-centuries, the last of which - 91 - coming during the West Indies tour, after which point he was cast aside - remain. The swagger has not diminished, nor the fearless spirit. And especially not the desire for responsibility at the highest level.

"I feel like I love the brand of cricket that they're trying to play," said Lawrence at the close. "And it's something obviously I'd be desperate to be a part of. So yeah, trying to replicate it whenever I play and hopefully get back in."

"I think it's just trying to get rid of the fear of failure," said Lawrence on the talk from above and the trickle-down attitude from Test level. Going out there and just enjoying it and trying to be as free as possible and I feel like all of us went out there and did that today. We all tried to express ourselves as much as we could and it was good fun."

Then came the real business for the Proteas. There is a degree of uncertainty to the identity of their attack. The first-choice trio of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje are sitting out this week, although Rabada was in the outfield at lunch on day one to bowl on a practice strip. Having sat out the decider of the Twenty20 series with England because of an ankle injury, this was clearly an opportunity to gauge where he was at. He looked far from comfortable, taking ample breaks between each delivery, all under the guidance of bowling coach Charl Langeveldt. As such, the onus was on those playing to pitch themselves as the best alternate, which proved tricky under clear skies, on a track that wasn't doing too much off the straight, and a dry outfield.

Olivier was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets - for 39 from his 10 overs - with the only two deliveries from the quicks that coaxed genuine misjudgements. Keaton Jennings (27) was drawn into a slightly angled back to a straight delivery that nipped away and carried to Jansen at gully. A slightly shorter ball, with nip the other way, did for Lawrence.

Sandwiched in between was Dom Sibley misreading an arm-ball from Maharaj, ending an engaging 48 from 62, by which point the former Test openers had set up a platform of 144 between them.

By the time Lawrence had departed, ending the third-wicket partnership with Brook on 79, 223 was on the board, and it swelled by 56 in the 71 deliveries remaining up to stumps. Brook (form) and Duckett (recognition) have their own personal agendas going into day three of this fixture through a more holistic approach from the top-down.