Liam Dawson

Spin-bowling allrounder Liam Dawson turned the tide of a faltering county cricket career when he made his England T20 debut against Sri Lanka in 2016. An ODI debut against Pakistan also followed by the end of the summer, and the winter brought a Test debut in Chennai, where he made a dogged, unbeaten 66 batting at No. 8.

A former England U-19 captain, Dawson made his maiden first-class century at 18, becoming the youngest player to score a hundred for Hampshire. He initially developed as a top-order batter who provided useful left-arm spin as a supplement, but went on to be known more for his bowling than his batting as his career progressed.

Dawson took 7 for 51 on his debut for Mountaineers in Zimbabwe in 2011, and the next summer, back in England, hit the headlines by dismissing Kevin Pietersen for two golden ducks - in a 40-over game and a T20. That year he took nine wickets at 24.22 in Hampshire's title win in the T20 competition, and a year later, 13 at 21.30, though they only made it as far as the semi-finals this time.

Dawson put up over 1000 first-class runs for the first time in 2013. In 2016 came England debuts in T20I and ODI cricket, and though he was initially overlooked for the Test tours of Bangladesh and India, he flew in midway as an injury replacement and made his debut in Chennai.

Lord's against South Africa the following year was his next call - where he took four wickets and made a pair. One more Test, in that same series, where he failed with bat and ball and that was his Test career done.

Dawson's excellent T20 form for Hampshire in 2018 won him a place on England's one-day tour to Sri Lanka, where he played two ODIs to no great effect. In 2019, he averaged 54 with the bat and took 14 wickets as Hampshire finished third in the County Championship. His next white-ball excursion for England came in 2022, when he went on tours of West Indies, Pakistan and Australia.

The following season was his annus mirabilis in the Championship: 49 wickets and 840 runs from 14 games, helping fetch Hampshire eight wins, as many as title winners Surrey, and third place on the table. By then, Dawson was acknowledged to be one of the club's most versatile and prolific players, having made over 13,000 runs and taken 500-plus wickets across formats for them in his first 15 years with them.