Eight years, five PMs and one pandemic later, Dawson returns with a wicket

All of 2929 days separated Liam Dawson's seventh and eighth Test wickets.

It was so long ago that Dawson trapped Hashim Amla lbw at Trent Bridge in July 2017, he had actually forgotten about it when prompted by Sky Sports at the end of day one of the fourth Test against India. On Wednesday, a fresher, more cherished memory was banked when he skimmed the edge of Yashasvi Jaiswal's bat through to Harry Brook at first slip. The first of a new chapter.

The eight years between dismissals have been wild. A global pandemic has come and, for the most part, gone. The UK itself is on its fifth prime minister. And the ECB has not just come up with a new format no one asked for but sold the eight teams they plucked out of the ether to play it at a total valuation, in principle, of £975 million.

Life for Dawson has actually been pretty steady, which won't surprise anyone who knows him well. Team-mates past and present often refer to him as "Mr Reliable". So level-headed, he almost baulked at the idea he was worthy of a press conference.

"I've done nothing special here," Dawson said of his overnight figures of 1 for 45 from 15 overs. Maybe so. But the left-arm spinner's dismissal of Jaiswal for 58 with his seventh delivery of the day came after England had bowled slightly too short in the morning. The seamers collectively only hit a good length with the new ball on a seaming pitch with 35% of their deliveries in the morning session, which ended without success and India sitting pretty at lunch on 78 for none.

There is, however, something special about not just spanning eras, but seemingly riding them through to a return to the format the 35-year-old thought had been lost. "I've said to a few people that, the age I am, I probably thought Test cricket was gone."

Crucially, Dawson has made this journey on his own terms. This has not been about hitching rides in hope rather than expectation, but driving his own destiny in the periphery, like a time traveller not messing with the fabric of the ecosystems but blending into it. It's worth noting that Dawson's debut, against India in Chennai at the end of 2016, was the same Test Karun Nair struck his triple-century in. Nair's comeback story has lasted just three games.

Dawson has been a background extra to England's white-ball glories - a non-playing member of the 2019 ODI World Cup squad, a travelling reserve for the 2022 T20 World Cup, among 15 limited-overs appearances between Test cap numbers three and four. The last three of those came earlier this summer, ending a three-year break from the international scene. A knowing nudge and a wink that a return could be on the horizon, even if it took an injury to Shoaib Bashir to realise it.

Sympathy for Dawson should be sparing, partly as he wouldn't want it but also because his nest has been well-feathered in spite of being ignored at international level. The wilderness is lush for players of his calibre.

He has turned out for ten different T20 teams across seven different franchise competitions. Crucially, all while not just ticking over in first-class cricket but thriving.

In 85 first-class matches for Hampshire during this hiatus, Dawson has 215 dismissals at 27.75, taking 12 out of his 15 five-wicket hauls, and all three of his ten-wicket match hauls. The 4566 runs alongside - at 38.69 - are made up of ten of his 19 career centuries. So fruitful has this period been that Dawson forgot that it was on this very ground, just last year, that he took match figures of 10 for 99 and struck a first-innings hundred to secure an innings victory over Lancashire.

Day one's small sample size of "nothing special" was littered with cues to Dawson's skills. His accuracy and revolutions on the ball have always been consistent, as has the pace, with 83% of Wednesday's deliveries in the 85kph to 90kph sweet spot for fingerspinners. His knack of manipulating drift - offshoots of revolutions and pace - was highlighted by the dismissal of Jaiswal. That drifted 2.058 degrees, 0.636 above his overall average so far in this match.

That skidding delivery is also something he has perfected and used to hoodwink plenty of domestic batters. Some of those on the wrong side of Dawson tell you how much tougher he is to sweep now, with extra dip and shape harnessed over the last couple of years. Some attribute it to a shift of his left hand and wrist at the end of his gather, both more secure and more supple, like the top hand of a violinist.

As a result, that skid-on delivery has become more potent, allowing him to challenge both edges of the bat as he was able to do with Jaiswal, who was conscious of the ball turning towards his pads and forgot about the outside edge. It was as much a smart piece of bowling as a clever bit of forethought from England. On Monday, Brook, who, as limited-overs captain with head coach Brendon McCullum, had overseen the first stage of Dawson's recall, pointed out that the extent of the footholes created outside the left-hand batter's off stump this series was an area Dawson could exploit. Exploit he did.

It was also on this day that Dawson sat down with Ben Stokes to talk tactics. Since becoming Test captain, Stokes has made it his job to set fields for all his bowlers, particularly his spinners, who, for the most part, have been precocious upstarts who could do with the burden of that side of things. "Just bowl" has been his message.

That was more or less what he reiterated to Dawson, who says he was relaxed at the proposition of the odd man being moved here and there by his captain. The difference, of course, is that Dawson's metronomy relies on order, control beyond his fingers. Throughout Dawson's three spells, there seemed to be a decent amount of back and forth, albeit very little, if anything, during an actual over.

"Probably a little bit more consistent," Dawson said when asked about the difference between him now and the bowler who took seven wickets at 42.57 in his first three caps. "Understanding pitches a little bit better, what players are looking to do sometimes. I think the older you get, you learn how to manage game scenarios.

"I've bowled a lot of overs the last few years and obviously when you bowl, you improve. You're still going to have tough days, but I do feel like I'm a better bowler now than I was a few years ago."

It's a level of comfort and self-assurance that Stokes is not used to with his spinners. But it is one he clearly welcomes at this juncture, hence Dawson's selection in the first place.

On a day when England's two previous left-arm orthodox bowlers, Jack Leach and Tom Hartley, bagged a five-wicket haul for Somerset and scored a maiden century for Lancashire, respectively, while Leicestershire legspinner Rehan Ahmed registered both in the first two days of the ongoing round of the County Championship, Dawson's "nothing special" suited Stokes and England just fine.