There are numerous reasons why England’s impact on recent global one-day tournaments has been so weak but one that stands out is a chronic sameness to their bowling. In such events it is seven years since they last deployed a wrist spinner and six years since they fielded a left-arm seamer. Although left-arm spinners have made fleeting appearances since 2010, they have sent down just 41 overs. No variety, no chance.
At least the lesson has been learnt. When the squad leaves tomorrow for the World Twenty20 it will contain two left-arm quicks in Reece Topley and David Willey, a wrist spinner in Adil Rashid and an orthodox left-arm spinner in Liam Dawson as accompaniment to three right-arm pacemen and Moeen Ali’s off-spin. With an average age of 26, England are perhaps too inexperienced to be serious challengers but finally they have all bases covered.
Dawson is the most surprising inclusion. Eight months ago he requested to go on loan to Essex after finding himself surplus to Hampshire’s championship and Twenty20 requirements, and he would not have toured with the Lions this winter – the catalyst for his first England call-up — had it not been for a freak injury to Zafar Ansari.
He is heading to India because he turns the ball away from the right-hander and is a genuine allrounder, unlike others of his type such as Stephen Parry and Danny Briggs whose bowling might have been considered superior (on the day the squad was named, Parry declared himself “absolutely gutted”). Some influential figures such as Andy Flower, the Lions coach who championed Dawson’s cause, have not forgotten the part Michael Yardy, another slow left-armer, played in England’s Twenty20 triumph in the Caribbean.
Dawson, 26, is a different style of operator to Yardy, more in sync with the positive approach of the present side. “I see myself as more of an attacking bowler [than Yardy],” he said. “I try to spin every ball. I’m not a negative bowler. Wickets are massive in one-day cricket, they slow the scoring, but you have to be adaptable. There will be times when you might have to go to your yorker early, bowl into the wicket more. But for me they are Plan B.
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“Look at world cricket and how successful left-arm seamers have been. Left-arm spin is no different. If you get the ball to turn away from the [right-hander’s] bat, it poses problems. Rashid can turn it both ways and Moeen spins the ball, so we have lots of options. If I play at this World Cup, I think it will be as a bowler, because we’ve got such a strong batting line-up. It’s what I’ve done for Hampshire. But I can do a job with the bat wherever needed.”
India, the tournament favourites, have selected three slow left-armers in Ravi Jadeja, Pawan Negi and Yuvraj Singh, as well as veteran left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra.
Dawson knows he has been fortunate but, crucially, he took the chance that came his way. In the 50-over and Twenty20 series for the Lions against Pakistan A he clocked up 269 runs and 12 wickets. “I had to take my opportunity and did that,” he said. “It obviously did my cause the world of good. They could have picked Parry or Briggs but England want allrounders. Thankfully I’ve got three strings to my bow. I’m surprised at what has happened. This is not something I was close to a year ago. It’s amazing.” He joined England for the final 10 days in South Africa to integrate with the group.
A solid temperament always plays well with selectors and Dawson’s response to being left out by Hampshire five games into last season’s championship showed he had that. He signed for Essex for a month but did well enough that Hampshire recalled him after 12 days and from there he finished the season strongly with bat and ball, playing a central part in the county’s escape from relegation. He rates the century he scored against Yorkshire as his finest effort.
His main frustration was playing only two Twenty20s for Hampshire, even though his white-ball skills were prominent in the Royal London Cup in which he finished as their second-heaviest run-scorer and leading wicket-taker. Whatever happens in India, he should not be carrying drinks this summer: after Briggs’s departure for Sussex, Dawson is now Hampshire’s top one-day spinner. “Sport has its ups and downs,” he said. “I like to think I’ve come through.”
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Having grown up in Wiltshire, where he played for Chippenham alongside World Twenty20 teammate James Vince, Dawson soon found after joining Hampshire that his bowling action was unfit for purpose and he spent two seasons of hard graft in remedial work — the “before” and “after” phases summed up by him being hit for five sixes in a row by Ben Stokes in 2011, then twice dismissing Kevin Pietersen for ducks in 2012, the second time with a jaffa. “Since then, my bowling has gone up a notch each year,” he said.
For England, the Champions Trophy on home soil in 2017 is a more attainable prize than this one. Their Twenty20 cricket should also benefit from the county t20 Blast being moved to a six-week block next year (though probably with divisions still arranged regionally rather than with promotion and relegation), a change due to be endorsed by the ECB board tomorrow.