Dawson's return spins England in a new direction

Hampshire player in for injured Shoaib Bashir brings very different set of skills but plenty of experience

- Ali Martin

The one enforced change in England's XI for the hotly anticipated fourth Test against India at Old Trafford this week, Liam Dawson replacing the injured Shoaib Bashir, represents a 180-degree turn on pretty much every metric.

Bashir has been the long-term investment this past year: a 6ft 4in right-arm off-spinner who, aged 21, struggles to get a look-in at Somerset and has instead been honing his craft at the highest level. His ceiling is fancied to be higher than his towering release point, even if he is a No 11 with the bat and a competent fielder at best.

Dawson sits at the other end of more than one spectrum: a 5ft 8in left-arm spinner who, aged 35, has banked 206 first-class games for Hampshire. This recall, eight years after the last of his three Test caps, also offers England greater flexibility when it comes to picking their seam attack. Dawson, who is a livewire in the field, can slot in at No 8 comfortably given he has 18 first-class hundreds.

However, for Jeetan Patel, the assistant coach who oversees England's spinners, this switch is a pragmatic pick that rewards a seasoned pro in Dawson. As for where it leads when everyone is fit and available, not least next winter's Ashes tour, the mantra under Brendon McCullum, the head coach, is that things will work themselves out.