Manchester [UK], July 22 : Ahead of his team's fourth Test against India at Manchester, England skipper Ben Stokes spoke on spin-bowling all-rounder Liam Dawson's return to the Test scheme of things after eight years, hailing him for his experience and how he proved that performances at the domestic level can keep one's name out in the public.
With the series in favour of England by 2-1, the fourth Test will be crucial in determining the future of this series. With spinner Shoaib Bashir ruled out of the series due to injury, who last played for England in July 2017, finds himself back in the side. He has represented England in three Tests, scoring 84 runs with a half-century and taking seven wickets. In the home series against the West Indies, Dawson made a return to the white-ball setup after three years, taking five wickets in three matches.
He has performed consistently for Hampshire for several years, scoring 10,731 runs in 212 first-class matches at an average of 35.29, with 18 centuries and 56 fifties, and taking 371 wickets at an average of 31.54.
Speaking on Dawson's inclusion during the pre-match presser, Stokes said, "He has been performing really well for Hampshire for a while now. I think he is getting recalled into the white ball team as well. He showed that he can just come back in and get to work straight away. I think someone, when you have as much experience as Dawson has, it makes coming back in, not easier, but it does make it easier, if that makes any sense at all."
"Because he has got all that experience to fall back on. Obviously, I am sure there will be a bit of nerves for Dawson coming back in and playing his first game in eight years, as you said. But yes, he is a very good cricketer, and I am excited for him this week," he added.
Dawson said that, regardless of his age, at 35, he would be aiming to showcase his skills, but Dawson is not the type of character to let the idea of ageism consume him.
"It just shows if you keep working hard and keep putting in good performances consistently, then you are always going to be spoken about and be there or thereabouts," he added.
Stokes said that he has known the veteran for a long time and his "competitiveness" goes under the radar.
"Obviously, he is just a cricketer who gives you so much with the ball, but having someone like him down the order again, hopefully we are not relying on his runs at number eight or nine, but yeah, I think he has earned his call-up to the Test team on the back of an unfortunate injury to Bash. So, yeah, he has earned the call on all the hard work he has done back at Hampshire and around the world in different franchise leagues and everything like that. So, yeah, quality cricketer and very, very competitive," he added.
In the most recent County Championship, Dawson made 536 runs in nine matches and 14 innings at an average of 44.36, with a century and two half-centuries. He also took 21 wickets at an average of 40.04, with best figures of 5/158.
Stokes also justified the decision to play veteran all-rounder Chris Woakes over a young pacer Gus Atkinson, pointing out his fine record at Old Trafford and the "control" he offers with the ball.
"Woakes has got a very good record here, and it is one of those where we have managed to win two of the first three games pretty much with a very similar bowling attack. Obviously, we had Joff coming last week, which was a big bonus, but I think outside of the rewards that Woakes has not got with the ball, he is a very important player for us. He adds that control with the ball is very handy, having him down the order. And we won last week, so we did not see that there was a necessary change to make for this week," he concluded.
During this series, Woakes has been far from his best, taking seven wickets in three matches at an average of 56.42, with best figures of 3/84. His strike rate has been over 103. However, he boasts of an extremely fine record at Old Trafford, having taken 35 scalps in just seven Tests at an average of 17.37, strike rate of 35.8, with best figures of 5/50. He has two five-wicket hauls at the venue.
The last time Woakes was at Old Trafford, he took three wickets in each of the two innings against Sri Lanka back in August last year.
Woakes is just eight wickets away from becoming the eighth England player to enter the 400-wicket club in international cricket, currently standing at 392 wickets in 215 matches at an average of 29.39, with best figures of 6/17, including eight five-wicket hauls and a ten-wicket haul.
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.