Liam Dawson was already on Hampshire's books when, in the winter of 2007-08, the county lost the services of both Shane Warne and Shaun Udal to leave their spinning cupboard distinctly bare. At the time, Dawson's left-arm spin was his primary role, but with increasingly proficient batting performances he's developed into a fully-fledged allrounder.

Such was Dawson's youthful talent, he was called up by England Under-19 as a 16-year-old for the tour of Malaysia in 2006-07 and had made both List A and first-class debuts before his 18th birthday. He impressed against Pakistan in the 2007 summer, where his left-arm spin collected wickets and maintained control during the two-Test series. He was selected for England's Under-19 World Cup squad in 2008, and after another promising county summer, which included a maiden first-class century on the final day of season against Nottinghamshire, was named captain of the Under-19 side for their trip to South Africa. His fast-track progress through the ranks continued with a place on the England Lions tour of New Zealand in January 2009, and he was soon established as a Hampshire regular in all formats.
Cricinfo staff June 2011