London: The head coach Trevor Bayliss has never seen him play and his county scarcely used him in Twenty20 last year but the man behind Liam Dawson’s selection for England is adamant he has what it takes to thrive on the world stage. It was Andy Flower, the national team’s former technical director, who recommended the spin-bowling all-rounder be included in the 15-man World Twenty20 squad after watching him at close quarters for the Lions over the course of the winter. The recommendation, coming after 10 limited-overs fixtures against Pakistan A either side of Christmas, now has the uncapped Dawson in India, hopeful of making his international bow when Eoin Morgan’s side start their campaign against West Indies next Wednesday.
“I didn’t know much about Liam before but I found him to be a really impressive operator,” Flower said. “He was very self-sufficient, low maintenance and a very good competitor in the middle. His batting was skilful, calm under pressure and he played the spinners well off the front and back foot. His bowling was canny and accurate; he could sense when batsmen (who) were going to have a crack seemed a step ahead.
“You can field him anywhere too, so that made for a very strong package. I hope Liam does get a go in India - he might not be high profile but that doesn’t mean he can’t be successful at international level.”
Whether a debut follows in the next three weeks or not, Dawson’s promotion to the senior set-up caps a remarkable surge up the ranks by a cricketer who only midway through last season moved to Essex on loan after being frozen out of Hampshire’s plans in the NatWest T20 Blast. It was a situation the former England Under-19 captain found tough to accept, having played a central role in the club’s limited-overs double in 2012 - a season he ranks as his career highlight to date.
“I was averaging 26 in first-class cricket at that point of the season but I was disappointed because I felt I’d been a key player in the Twenty20 side,” Dawson said. “I told the club I didn’t want second XI cricket and things moved quickly from there.”
The brief four-match spell at Chelmsford would reinvigorate the 26-year-old, who went on to enjoy a fine second half to the season back with his full-time employer after being recalled two weeks into the month’s arrangement, including a career-best six for 47 against Sussex in the Royal London Cup, a match in which he also scored an unbeaten 73. A sliding-doors moment for two young England cricketers would come when Surrey’s Zafar Ansari, down to go on Lions duty in the UAE after a maiden Test tour against Pakistan there in November, suffered a dislocated thumb on the day of his call-up. His unfortunate break was Dawson’s lucky one, the Lions captain James Vince suggesting to Flower his revived Hampshire colleague could step up, having known him since he was a 13-year-old team-mate at Chippenham.
With the selectors Mick Newell and Angus Fraser present for spells, and Flower in charge, Dawson’s 14 wickets on tour saw him leapfrog a fellow left-armer, Lancashire’s Stephen Parry, before going on to join Morgan’s tourists for the Twenty20 leg in South Africa , where he would meet the squad. “The first few days with England I was in my shell and a bit nervous - that’s natural - but it was good to meet the lads,” said Dawson, who watched the 2-0 series defeat from the sidelines. “You can see the intensity is greater in international cricket and adapting to that means you can hold your own. The Lions helps to narrow that gap and it’s no surprise a lot of guys have come from there.”
While Dawson is expected to provide backup for Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid in India, Flower believes he could prove to be a wildcard should the management opt for his left-arm angle or conditions necessitate three spinners. He said: “Liam has an advantage - the opposition don’t know him well. And one of the things that international cricket can do over time is create doubt but he shouldn’t have any, he should be feeling pretty good about himself - it will all be new for him. “His selection is exciting for all young cricketers; it is evidence in front of their eyes as to how close they are to representing their country.” Flower is a World Twenty20-winning coach, having overseen the 2010 victory in the Caribbean alongside the captain Paul Collingwood , who is now part of the coaching setup. A repeat is not out of the question, he believes, if the approach is similar.
“We had a wonderful, hyper-aggressive method at that time which gave us a real sense of freedom. The players thoroughly enjoyed that tournament,” Flower said. “You have to play in that aggressive manner to have a chance. It will be a challenge for England this time - it is the subcontinent and things are different - but they aren’t going to be shy about having a go.”
