Liam Dawson on being omitted from England Lions squad: Don’t think I did myself justice at Test level

England Lions tour to Australia could provide the ticket to Ashes 2017-18.

Remember Liam Dawson? He is the bloke who scored a half-century on his Test debut, against India a year ago. So, after his poor form against South Africa in July, Dawson was axed from the England Lions squad. Dawson also struggled with the bat in the County Championship, making 334 runs at 20.88.  However, Dawson showed some skills with the ball, picking 31 wickets at 26.

But players, such as Keaton Jennings, Tom Westley and Mark Wood who were part of the South Africa series, are selected in the England Lions squad.

Nevertheless, Dawson has taken the decision in good stride. “I wasn’t looking too much into the decision. It wasn’t a huge shock not to be involved, but there’s not much I can do about it. That’s part of sport and I’ve just to get on with it and try to improve to get into the next squad,” Dawson told BBC sport.

Ahead of Dawson, Somerset’s Jack Leach and Dom Bess were selected. England Lions tour to Australia could provide the ticket to Ashes 2017-18.

Dawson realised his drawbacks, and explained further the reasoning on being dropped, “I imagine a lot of the Lions schedule this winter is built around red ball cricket. I bowled fairly well for Hampshire in the Championship, but I didn’t bowl anywhere near as well as I can in the Tests, which is frustrating.”

Despite this dilemma, Dawson can look forward to an eventful winter. The all-rounder will be tying the knot this Saturday, the same day when Ben Stokes too will be marrying his fiancée Clare Ratcliffe.

He will fly to Bangladesh for Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in November for the second year to play for Chittagong Vikings.