Liam Dawson has stopped “wasting energy” thinking about an England recall, insisting he paid no attention to speculation about being parachuted into the Ashes.
When spinner Jack Leach was ruled out of the series due to injury last month, Dawson was tipped by many as one of the replacement candidates given he is also a slow left-armer and more useful with the bat.
England instead persuaded Moeen Ali to to end his Test retirement at Edgbaston but when a blistered finger ruled him out at Lord’s, it was teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed who was drafted into the squad.
Dawson, who played the last of his three Tests in July 2017, responded by taking 12 wickets after scoring a century in Hampshire’s LV= County Championship innings win over Middlesex last month.
However, the 33-year-old was adamant a remarkable performance was not a retaliation to the England selectors following his snub, having decided long ago to channel his energies into what he can control.
He told the PA news agency: “I didn’t even think about it. Test cricket has not been on my mind for a number of years. I’ve never expected to play for a long time and it’s not something that I worry about.
“Playing for England isn’t the be-all and end-all for me any more, it’s not healthy to worry about that, I did that way too much earlier in my career and that certainly affected performances.
“It’s just wasting energy. Now it’s about enjoying my cricket and if you do that, you hopefully do well and if that leads to playing for England then great but if not then I’ll enjoy playing for Hampshire.”
Dawson will be bidding to make history with Hampshire in the Vitality Blast at Edgbaston this weekend, where they can become the first team to retain their title and claim a record fourth crown.
Dawson, alongside James Vince and Chris Wood, have been mainstays in Hampshire’s success, especially in the shortest format where on Saturday they will be competing in their 10th Finals Day in 14 editions.
Vince has been central to their success this year, topping the tournament run-charts with eight 50-plus scores in 15 matches, averaging 65.7 with a sparkling strike-rate of 154.95.
Dawson said: “The older Vincey’s getting, the better he’s getting. He’s so consistent not only in T20s but in all formats.
“Any time he’s at the crease, it relaxes the changing room and the opposition knows he’s the big wicket to get. As long as he’s out there it gives the changing room huge confidence.
“But as a group we don’t want to put extra pressure on him and him feeling like he has to get the runs. We know that we can’t just rely on him to always get the runs, it’s down to everyone else as well.”
All four teams from the South Group won their quarter-finals at the expense of their northern rivals to get to Birmingham, where Hampshire will play Essex before Somerset take on Surrey.
The winners are then scheduled to meet on Saturday evening – although the forecast rain means there are concerns about spilling over into a reserve day for just the second time in the event’s history.
Hampshire did the double over Essex in the group stages but Dawson was adamant that will have no bearing on this weekend.
He added: “The two games in the group stages are completely irrelevant. It means absolutely nothing.”
IPL: Jadeja stars as CSK move into playoff places
Chennai Super Kings moved into the Indian Premier League playoff places after beating Punjab Kings by 28 runs in Dharamshala.
The reigning champions avenged their seven-wicket defeat by the Kings in Chennai four days earlier to climb to third place in the table with three games remaining.
After a slow start, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell's partnership brought 57 runs and settled CSK into their stride. Although MS Dhoni went for a duck, Ravindra Jadeja's late surge of 43 from 26 balls saw them close at 167-9.
Tushar Deshpande claimed Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw in the second over to stem the Kings' early momentum, while Jadeja (3-20) also took a quickfire double of Sam Curran and Ashutosh Sharma in the 13th over as the hosts finished well short of their target at 139-9.
Data debrief
In getting back to winning ways, CSK ended their five-game losing streak against the Kings, stretching back to 2021.
Despite going for a duck, Dhoni managed to make amends in the field. When he caught out Jitesh Sharma, he became the first player in IPL history to take 150 catches.
IPL: Du Plessis shines as RCB revival continues against Titans
A rapid 64 from captain Faf du Plessis helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a third consecutive Indian Premier League win as they again saw off Gujarat Titans.
RCB comfortably defeated the Titans in an away game six days ago and then comprehensively saw off Shubman Gill’s side once more on Saturday, this time at home.
After the Titans were bowled out for 147, RCB raced to a four-wicket victory with 38 balls to spare to move off the bottom of the IPL table, jumping up to seventh after overcoming a brief scare towards the end of their chase.
Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak took two wickets apiece as the Titans struggled batting first, falling to 19-3 midway through the sixth over. They needed Shahrukh Khan (37), Rahul Tewatia (35) and David Miller (30) to post some kind of total, with Tewatia passing 1,000 career IPL runs.
Any faint hopes of halting RCB’s run of form were ended when Du Plessis fired 64 from just 23 balls with 10 fours and three sixes, ably supported by opening partner Virat Kohli (42).
A brief spell of chaos saw RCB fall from 92-0 to 117-6 with Josh Little taking 4-45, but Dinesh Karthik (21 not out) and Swapnil Singh (15no) steadied the ship and finished off the chase.
Data Debrief: Kohli regains Orange Cap
While Du Plessis top scored in this game, another good knock from Kohli, who hit four maximums, saw the India great regain possession of the Orange Cap. With 542 runs in IPL 2024, Kohli has a narrow lead over CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (509).
Kohli is averaging 67.75 and striking at 148.08, with four fifties and a century to his name from just 11 innings in a memorable campaign.
He has helped RCB recover from being beaten in seven of their first eight games, while the Titans, finalists in each of the last two editions, have now lost four of their last five.
Windies A end Nepal tour with six wicket defeat; top five-match series 3-2
West Indies A concluded their tour of South Asia on a losing note, as they were handed a six-wicket beating by Nepal in the final encounter of a five-match T20 series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, on Saturday.
Despite the loss, the Caribbean side topped the series 3-2, but had very little to celebrate, as they failed to really put together a dominant collective display. Instead, the series win was lined with individual performances, namely from captain Roston Chase, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Alick Athanaze, as well as stellar efforts from Gudakesh Motie and Obed McCoy with the ball.
It was more of the same in the curtain call contest, where Athanaze’s unbeaten 29-ball 42 and Chase’s 33 off 23 balls, were the highlight of the West Indies A innings, which ended at 172-7, after they opted to take first strike.
Sagar Dhakal (3-17) and Sompal Kami (3-16) did the damage for Nepal with the ball.
In reply, Nepal, courtesy of half-centuries from Aasif Sheikh (51) and Anil Sah (58), easily got to their target with seven balls to spare.
McCoy led West Indies A bowlers with 3-36.
Scores: West Indies A 172-7 (20 overs); Nepal 173-4 (18.5 overs)
After losing opener Kushal Bhurtel (13) to McCoy in the second over, Nepal had very little trouble fending off West Indies A’s bowling attack, as Sheikh and Sah put together a 96-run second wicket stand, which laid the platform for the victory.
Wicketkeeper Sheikh smashed two fours and five sixes in his 35-ball knock, while Sah had four fours and four sixes in his 58 off 45 balls.
Even when that partnership was eventually broken by McCoy, who removed Sheikh in the 14th over, the host remained in firm control, and the win was inevitably wrapped up by Kushal Malla, who struck three fours and three sixes in a brisk unbeaten 18-ball 37.
Earlier, West Indies A lost their top order in the eighth over with just 60 runs on the board, as Johnson Charles (24), Kadeem Alleyne (11) and Mark Deyal (11), all failed to repel the attack of Dhakal’s slow left-arm orthodox spin.
Chase, who struck five boundaries in his 23-ball 33, and Athanaze, who had one four and three maximums, tried to repair the damage with a 40-run fourth wicket stand, before the former fell in the 14th over.
Matthew Forde, with a 12-ball cameo of 23, including three sixes, added some impetus to the innings, but when he fell to Kami, West Indies A lucked out, as the right had medium fast bowler also removed Fabian Allen (three) and Motie (one) in quick succession.
Athanaze and Hayden Walsh (seven) were left not out.
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