England Finally Moving Away From Really Left-Field Selections, Believes Nasser Hussain

The Bazball era, headed by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, started by England's ‘rebelling’ against how Test cricket is played, but the Three Lions also made left-field selections one of their signatures off the field. 

England, across the last three years, have handed Test caps to Shoaib Bashir, Tom Hartley, Jacob Bethell and Josh Hull among others, and all these have been left-field calls made using instinct, eye test and other metrics, not conventional numbers. 

But with the selection of Sam Cook for the Zimbabwe Test and now the recall of Liam Dawson, former England captain Nasser Hussain believes that England might finally be moving away from making ‘really left-field calls’.

“It's also interesting that the selectors have gone from one extreme to the other - from picking Bashir based on watching social-media footage to selecting a bloke who already has international experience and has done the hard yards in county cricket,” Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.

“England seem to be moving away from the really left-field selections, such as Josh Hull for last year's Oval Test against Sri Lanka, and saying to the county game: if you score runs and take wickets, you've got a chance. Sam Cook got the nod for the Zimbabwe Test, now Dawson is in the mix again.

“It's a good pick, and a fillip for domestic cricketers around the country.”

Dawson, primarily a left-arm spinner, is averaging over 70 with the bat in County Cricket for Hampshire this year, and thus Hussain believes that England might have a ‘serious’ lower-order for the fourth Test at Old Trafford.

“If he [Dawson] goes in at No 8, that could be the start of a seriously strong lower order, possibly with Gus Atkinson, who has scored a Test century, at No 9, and Brydon Carse, who batted so well at Lord's, at No 10,” Hussain said.

Dawson’s selection, Hussain believes, is also the clearest indication yet that England have completely moved on from Jack Leach. Now 34, Leach last played a Test in October 2024 away in Pakistan.

“It's clear, too, that England have moved on from Jack Leach, who has a good relationship with Ben Stokes but lacks Dawson's all-round qualities,” Hussain wrote. 

“And that could be important when England decide which spin bowlers to take to Australia this winter. You need steel to succeed out there, and Dawson has it in abundance.”