Stokes backs experienced Dawson to come good in Manchester
The England captain has thrown his support behind the all-rounder’s long-awaited return to Test cricket, as the hosts prepare for a crucial fourth Test.
With the fourth Test against India in Manchester just around the corner, England skipper Ben Stokes believes all-rounder Liam Dawson’s comeback after an eight-year absence was a well-deserved recall.
Dawson had earned his long-awaited recall to the Test squad following a finger injury to right-arm spinner Shoaib Bashir in England’s thrilling win in the third Test at Lord’s.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the game, Stokes referred to Dawson's successful return to the T20I format earlier this year. Dawson featured in three home T20Is, and picked five wickets, including a career-best 4/20.
"He's been performing really well for Hampshire for a while now and I think he's obviously getting recalled into the white-ball team as well. He showed that he can just come back in and get to work straight away,” Stokes said.
“I'm sure there'll be a bit of nerves for Dawson coming back in and playing his first game in eight years as you said. But yeah, he's a very good cricketer and I'm excited for him this week.”
"It just shows if you keep working hard and keep putting in good performances consistently, then you're always going to be spoken about and be there with everybody. The door will be open for the Ashes potentially if he can prove himself."
Stokes further clarified on another selection call England made: that of sticking with Chris Woakes ahead of Gus Atkinson. The all-rounder backed the experienced Woakes, especially with his record at Old Trafford. Woakes averages 17.37 for his 35 Test scalps at the ground.
"Woakes, he's got a very good record here. It's one of those where we've managed to win two of the first three games pretty much with a very similar bowling attack.
“Obviously we had Joff [Jofra Archer] coming in last week, which was a big bonus, but outside of the rewards that Woakes hasn't got with the ball, he's a very important player for us.
“He adds that control with the ball, it's very handy having him down the order. We won last week, so we didn't see there was a necessary change to make for this week."
Continued intensity and close margins have been a hallmark of this high-octane series, drawing favourable comparisons to one of the greatest contests in Ashes history and Stokes acknowledged the mentality on display from both sides.
"I think so far the series has been great to play in and I presume it's been pretty good to watch as well. 2005 Ashes series was great to watch and I think we've gone all five days and all three tests so far, so it just proves that the quality of cricket has been outstanding so far.
“Two teams going toe-to-toe and not very much separating us at the moment. It's been a great series so far, still got two big games to go and obviously one of those two starts tomorrow. It's been good to be a part of it so far.
Discussing his own efforts to balance with the bat and ball throughout the series so far, Stokes was upbeat about his workload management and pre-series preparations paying off.
"It is a good sign for me personally. I feel like I've been relatively sensible with my loads so far in terms of breaking up my overs throughout our fielding innings.
“It's obviously a positive thing for me knowing that all the hard work that I did before the series in getting my body robust and putting myself in a good position physically, being able to bowl those spells and feel really good throughout them was a good positive sign for my body."
The England skipper put on a Player of the Match show at Lord's, claiming five wickets in addition to adding 77 crucial runs with the bat.
Stokes also heaped massive praise on England batter Joe Root, who recently retained his throne of No.1 ranked batter in the ICC Test Rankings.
"Sometimes less is more maybe. I don't think I need to say anything else except he's just the absolute GOAT.”
Root is just 120 runs away from surpassing three legends of red-ball cricket - Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting - and becoming the second-highest run-scorer in Test history, with only Sachin Tendulkar left at the top.
The fourth Test at at Old Tarfford, Manchester, as part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle, begins on Wednesday, 23rd July.