Liam Dawson has been present for several of England’s defining white ball moments over the past decade, yet he remains without an appearance at a global tournament.
He travelled as an uncapped squad member to the 2016 World T20, when England were beaten late by Carlos Brathwaite’s decisive sixes. He was part of the wider group at Lord’s in 2019 and acted as a travelling reserve when England won the T20 World Cup in Australia three years later.
Despite that history, the 35 year old has yet to play at a World Cup. His international career has produced 33 appearances across formats, with his left arm spin and lower order batting often filling a contingency role.
That situation is expected to change when England begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Nepal on 8 February. Dawson has taken 12 wickets at an average of 19.25 since becoming Adil Rashid’s regular spin partner in the T20 side in June, with Indian conditions likely to suit his skill set.
His return to the one day international side has also progressed smoothly. In the current series against Sri Lanka in Colombo, his first ODI involvement for more than three years, Dawson has conceded four boundaries across 20 overs and taken two wickets.
“On these pitches you just simplify it as a bowler,” he said. “Just try to land the ball in an area and let the pitch do the work.”
Asked about the prospect of making a first World Cup appearance, Dawson described it as “amazing” to be back in the England setup and said it would be a “really cool occasion if selected to play”.
When questioned on the possibility of a Test recall later in the year, he added: “It’s not something I’ve overly thought about. I’ve got the World Cup to focus on first, domestic cricket in England, see how that goes and then see where we end up.”
Jofra Archer has joined England’s white ball squad in Sri Lanka as he continues his recovery from a side strain sustained during the Ashes. He is not part of the playing group for the three match T20 series starting on Friday in Pallekele but has been named in England’s 15 player squad for the World Cup.
Archer featured in the opening three Ashes Tests, taking a five wicket haul and scoring a half century in Adelaide, before injury ended his involvement. Only Adil Rashid has taken more T20 wickets for England over the past two years.
Phil Salt and Josh Tongue have also arrived in Sri Lanka despite not featuring in the ODI squad. Zak Crawley and Joe Root are only involved in the 50 over series, which concludes on Tuesday in Colombo.
Reflecting on his own international journey, Dawson said: “I played that one Test match and you can’t control selection at times, but it’s something I didn’t really overthink. It was enjoyable to play [Test cricket] again.”
His return to international cricket last year followed strong county form, including 103 Championship wickets for Hampshire across the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
“For those couple of years we had some wickets that we tried to make spin,” he said. “I know I’m accurate enough to exploit those conditions sometimes. That was the main reason I took more wickets than I’d taken before in my career.
“In the years gone by, we’d played on more seamer-friendly wickets at Southampton. It was nothing I did differently, it’s just that conditions suited me a little bit more those two years.”
Dawson is set to play a key role in the deciding third ODI against Sri Lanka. England have lost six of their past seven series in the format, though their 11 match winless run away from home ended with victory on Saturday.
