by Liam Dawson’s seventh ball in the test -Cricket after eight years drifted in the air and then landed on a flawless line outside of Yashasvi Jaiswals Off -Stumpf. The left -hander then formed forward to defend only to be deceived by the turn: there was not too much too little.
Jaiswal had expected the ball to enter it again, as well as from an Orthodox spinner of the left arm. If Dawson had turned the ball accordingly, his delivery would have hit the middle of Jaiswal’s bat. Instead, the lack of rotation of the difference between the middle and an edge was. It felt like a very suitable way for Dawson to mark its test return.
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Dawson is not the magnificent species. But after Harry Brook had completed a routine catch on the panties on the first day of the fourth test in Old Trafford, Dawson lifted his left hand, jumped away and beat the air, indulged in a moment that he never thought that he would come. After 102 games, Dawson finally had his eighth test match wrap.
Just to tell the list of spinners that England used in the meantime is it disoriented. England has chosen 12 spinners ahead of Dawson since his last test match appearance.
The list contains Jacks, Liam Livingstone and even Joe Root, all of which were occasionally selected as frontliners. When England toured in India for the last time at the beginning of last year, they chose Shoaib Bashir, who had 10 first -class gates with an average of 67, and Tom Hartley, who had 40 first -class gates with an average of 36.6. Dawson, fresh from 49 gates at 20, was not even in England’s squad. Soon afterwards, Dawson described a return to the test cricket as “completely from the radar”.
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For everyone who thrown him for both Hampshire and Franchise Cricket around the world, Dawson’s long exile was confusing. In the past three years he has a strong claim to be the leading local cricket player in the country. Dawson has taken 25.6 124 district championship gates since 2023, while he achieved seven centuries and achieved an average of 47.6 with the bat.
But Dawson’s return to the White-Ball Cricket for the T20 series against West Indies in the early summer showed a change in the thinking of England. Taking four for 20 in his first game suggested that England has been too shy in recent years to recognize Dawson’s qualities, even if he is not the way to get the point.
In part, Dawson’s exile was himself. Two years ago, he rejected a call for a limited tour of Bangladesh. Before the test series in India in 2024, Dawson pulled that he was only happy to tour if he would certainly play. On the other hand, Dawson was able to reasonably claim to have managed more than enough drinks about his international career.
From 2016 to 22 he was almost constantly in England’s group, especially in the white spherical shapes, but only played 20 international games. Dawson was part of the triumphant troops both at the Odi World Championship 2019 and at the T20 World Cup 2022 (albeit in standby companies). He never made the starts 11. He was said that he should prepare to go to India, for the Odi World Cup 2023, was then not selected in the quad.
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England was more in love with younger and more glamorous alternatives for all reliability of Dawson. Rehan Ahmed, England’s most recent test, was admired because of his wrist and flair. Hartley, a spinner like Dawson, was selected for its raw properties. So Bashir, which was particularly admired for his 6 -foot height of 4 inches and was eight inches larger than Dawson.
Bashir was partially selected by England because he had torn social media with the ball of Alastair Cooks border two years ago. Dawson’s value is best understood by its highlights as his cumulative work. His relentless accuracy and championship of the length forces the Schlagmann to keep pushing forward. And as Jaiswal could testify, Dawsons cannot be just as toxic as the ball that rotates in a classic way.
Dawson’s early cheering was a bit deceptive. Instead, he quickly got involved in the role that was planned for a spinner on the opening day in England.
“I didn’t do anything special there,” said Dawson with his characteristic drought after the game. But during 15 overs Dawson showed his blind containment and collected exactly three runs over one.
Dawson’s economic rate was less than Shoaib Bashirs in Test Cricket – AP/Jon Super
Dawson had to call his white balls on a largely non -reacting Wicket. He happily switched between bowling over and around the Wicket to India’s left -handed people and varied his release stell on the fold and speed.
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This light bowling for left -handed people could still be significant in the medium -term thinking of England. As an off-spinner, Bashir’s biggest threat to left-handed people, of which Australia has three in their top seven. But when Dawson Jaiswal first released and then contained Rishabh Pant, it also showed his ability to bowling, which complements his greater threat as a Bashir against right -handed.
With Bashir, Ben Stokes is used to playing a strikingly active role as a captain and mixing the field of the off-spinner. But with Dawson, 14 years of Bashir’s senior, Stokes had no such proactivity. Dawson took over much greater command of his own field.
But the greatest contrast between Dawson and the man he replaced is not with the ball. Instead, it is on the field – Bashir is a medium -sized field player, Dawson an extraordinary – and with the bat. With a first -class average of 35.3, Dawson England plays an enviable depth. This is particularly attractive at a time when both the Dukes and the Kookaburra balls later offer little help in the Innings.
Before Old Trafford, Dawson was seen as a simple option “Plug-and-Play”, said England assistant coach Jeetan Patel before this game. However, the start in Dawson’s test return indicated that a pragmatic selection could still have a big impact on England.
