England v India: Liam Dawson to play first Test in eight years

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.

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.

Pace bowler Chris Woakes keeps his place, holding off the challenge of Gus Atkinson.

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.

Hampshire’s Dawson will win his fourth Test cap, his third coming against South Africa in July 2017.

England have played 102 Tests since Dawson last appeared. Only six other players in history have gone more Tests between caps.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“He brings experience and guile,” batter Harry Brook told BBC Sport. “He’s very skilful.

“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.

“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.”