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Spinner Liam Dawson will play his first Test in eight years after being named in the England team to face India at Old Trafford on Wednesday.<\/b><\/p>\n
Left-armer Dawson, 35, returns as the replacement for off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who suffered a broken finger in the thrilling third-Test win at Lord’s.<\/p>\n
Pace bowler Chris Woakes keeps his place, holding off the challenge of Gus Atkinson.<\/p>\n
England are 2-1 up and will win the series if they take the fourth Test in Manchester. They have not won a five-Test series since 2018.<\/p>\n
Hampshire’s Dawson will win his fourth Test cap, his third coming against South Africa in July 2017.<\/p>\n
England have played 102 Tests since Dawson last appeared. Only six other players in history have gone more Tests between caps.<\/p>\n
While Dawson will provide reliable slow left-arm, he also boosts England’s lower-order batting. He owns 18 first-class hundreds and his average of 35.29 outstrips opener Zak Crawley.<\/p>\n
Part of the squad that won the 2019 World Cup, his international career appeared to be over. After fleeting appearances in white-ball cricket in 2022, he went more than three years without another call-up.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of this summer, he said he was “realistic” about his England prospects, only to receive a recall for the T20 series against West Indies in May.<\/p>\n
He now gets his chance in the Test side, leap-frogging fellow left-armer Jack Leach, who was part of England’s squads during the winter and has a central contract.<\/p>\n
“He brings experience and guile,” batter Harry Brook told BBC Sport. “He’s very skilful.<\/p>\n
“He’s been around the block, played hundreds of games and he’s a great bloke. He’s very competitive and he’s a very good player.<\/p>\n
“He was very nervous before his T20 comeback and I’m sure he’ll be nervous this week. I’m sure he’ll let his experience and skills take over.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n