England's Dawson relishing return from international wilderness
England's Liam Dawson (C) celebrates with team-mates after dismissing West Indies' Johnson Charles during the 1st T20 at Chester-le-Street (Oli SCARFF)
Liam Dawson is determined to make the most of his surprise recall to international duty after believing his England career had come to an end.
The 35-year-old left-arm spinner had won just 20 caps across all three formats since making his debut in 2016.
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He appeared surplus to requirements as England selected a succession of other slow bowlers in red and white-ball cricket, many of whom had inferior county records to Hampshire mainstay Dawson.
But he produced a reminder of his quality with 4-20 and a player-of-the-match award as England marked Harry Brook's first T20 as captain with a 21-run win over the West Indies at Chester-le-Street on Friday.
"I had got to an age where I probably thought international cricket was gone," said Dawson after taking his best figures in T20 internationals.
"In my domestic career, I've tried to go out there and just enjoy playing for whoever I'm playing for. It was about going out there and not worrying about playing for England.
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"I think that can hamper you sometimes so I've not really worried about that. I'm at an age now where I know that I'm close to finishing."
Brook gave Dawson the new ball in Durham, a sign of his confidence in the bowler, and perhaps a marker for next year's T20 World Cup on turning pitches in India and Sri Lanka.
"Personally, I think he's been knocking on the door for years to try and solidify that spot and the performance we saw from him was awesome," said Brook of Dawson.
"Him and Adil Rashid working in tandem at both ends is going be good to watch in the coming years. He can also help the younger lads along the way, to have him in the inner circle when they are bowling is going to help us a lot."
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The three-match series continues in Bristol on Sunday before finishing at Dawson's home ground in Southampton on Tuesday.
Well though he bowled in Durham, Dawson is taking nothing for granted.
"I know how cricket works, you've got to be consistent and it's only one game," he said. "So I'll park this and go again. It would be nice to play at my home ground, if selected."
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