Dawson handed England Test recall

ENGLAND have handed spinner Liam Dawson a Test recall after an eight-year absence, with the 35-year-old replacing the injured Shoaib Bashir at Emirates Old Trafford next week.

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Dawson made the last of his three Test appearances in 2017 but Bashir’s predicament has paved the way for a comeback he had all but given up on.

Bashir took the match-winning wicket in a tense finish at Lord’s on Monday evening, having already broken the little finger on his left hand, and is set for surgery in the coming days.

England have run through a host of different spinning options since Dawson last held the shirt, with the tally hitting double figures once all-rounders are included, but his consistently impressive performances have persuaded the selectors to draft him in for the fourth Rothesay Test.