Dawson Looking Forward To Season Ahead After Positive PSL Experience

It’s been a busy off-season for Hampshire’s Liam Dawson, with the all-rounder globetrotting throughout the winter, enjoying red and white ball experience across Australia, New Zealand, and beyond.

Dawson’s latest adventure saw him feature in this year’s Pakistan Super League as part of the Darren Sammy led Peshawar Zalmi side, and with the competition taking place in the UAE followed by a three-match stint in Pakistan, the experience was one that he is pleased to have been involved in.

“It was very intense as a tournament and the standard was exceptional. The bowling attacks in the competition were very strong and there’s a lot of pace and good spin.

“It was an awesome experience to play three games in Pakistan and the competition in general was excellent, playing in some of the best games for atmosphere I’ve ever played in.

“It was non-stop cheering and it was loud – that’s how you want to play cricket and they’re the atmospheres that you want to play in which make cricket that bit more fun.”

Dawson impressed with both bat and ball throughout the group stage for his side, claiming 3-20 with the ball on debut before striking 32 and taking 1-17 from his four overs in the following contest.

Further positive performances followed, included 3-17 against Karachi Kings in the penultimate contest of the group stages, helping Zalmi secure a coveted play-off place.

It was during the tournament’s quarter-final stages where the 28-year-old shone most, bludgeoning 62 from just 35 balls in the first-innings before holding his nerve in the final over to bowl Zalmi to a narrow one-run victory against Rilee Rossouw’s Quetta Gladiators. His side then completed a comfortable win in their second knock-out contest before falling just short in the final against Islamabad United.

“I found some good form with the bat and made some good contributions as well in some big games which was very pleasing.

“We were behind the game a lot in the quarter-final and had to bowl our seamers out to keep us in the game and they did thankfully. I got thrown the ball and went for a few runs which made it entertaining but it was a good experience and thankfully we got over the line.”

With the competition’s knock-out stages having returned to Pakistan again this year, Dawson was also impressed with the arrangements and security in place in both Karachi and Lahore for the PSL’s latter stages

“We had the same security as a Prime Minister of President and we even had the army involved – that’s how much they love their cricket in Pakistan and they obviously want to get consistent cricket back to the country.

“We were there for a whole week and never felt in danger once and it was great to experience it. I’d love to go back, it’s a very good tournament and fun to play in.”

Now back in England, the right-hander’s attentions now turn to the start of the season with Hampshire and he’s looking forward to the upcoming campaign, beginning with the remaining pre-season matches to come over the coming two weeks.

“We’ve got a couple of pre-season red-ball games still to go in the next week or so and I’m looking forward to getting stuck straight into those before we get underway with another season.

“We’ve got a big season coming up and that’s exciting, but for me personally, we just need to make sure we perform at our best every single game, and then let’s see how we look a bit further into the season.”