A few months before turning nineteen, Lawry made his debut for Victoria, against Western Australia at the Junction Oval in the 1955–56 season. He scored only three as the hosts took an innings victory and it was his only senior match of the season. He played in all but one of Victoria's matches in 1956–57, but had modest results. He passed fifty only twice, scoring 51 against Queensland in his fourth first-class match, and making 74 against South Australia two games later. He made only one and seven against arch-rivals New South Wales in a low-scoring match that ended in the first tie in Sheffield Shield competitions. He ended with only 248 runs at 20.66.