Uncapped all-rounder Liam Dawson was on Wednesday included in England's 15-man squad for the World T20 in India next month
London: Uncapped all-rounder Liam Dawson was on Wednesday included in England's 15-man squad for the World T20 in India next month.
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The 25-year-old Hampshire player is a former England under-19s captain who has played 105 first class matches, averaging 34.20 with the bat and taking 110 wickets.
Head coach Trevor Bayliss has never having watched Dawson play in a match, but the all-rounder who played with the England Lions over the winter was observed by the coach in the nets.
All-rounders Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes have been left out, but pacer Steven Finn, who is missing the current One-Day and T20 series in South Africa with a side strain, has also been included in the squad.
The team is skippered by left hand batsman Eoin Morgan.
Broad, the top-ranked Test bowler in the world and a member of England's World Twenty20-winning team in 2010, has been overlooked.
Woakes, part of the T20 side to face Pakistan in the winter, has also been left out. Batsman James Vince has been chosen ahead of Luke Wright, who has 51 T20 caps.
Seven squad members - Morgan, Ali, Buttler, Finn, Hales, Jordan, and Rashid - have previous World T20 experience. England's campaign begins on March 16 against the West Indies with South Africa, Sri Lanka and a qualifier their other opponents in the group stages.
Former Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene will join the coaching team for the first 10 days of the tournament with former England T20 captain Paul Collingwood working alongside Trevor Bayliss, Paul Farbrace and Ottis Gibson for the duration.
National selector James Whitaker said in a statement on Wednesday: "The limited overs cricket played in the last eight months has been incredibly exciting to watch and these players deserve the honour of representing England at a global event. We have made significant progress during recent series with plenty more to come over the next few years."
"Liam Dawson has been selected after consistently strong performances for the Lions recently against Pakistan A. As a left-arm spinning all-rounder he will be a very useful addition particularly in sub-continent conditions."
England's first match will be against the West Indies on March 16. They also face South Africa and Sri Lanka in Group One, as well as a first-round qualifier from Scotland, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Hong Kong.
Who is Liam Dawson?
Hampshire's Dawson is a former England Under-19s captain who has played 105 first-class matches, averaging 34.20 with the bat and taking 110 wickets.
A slow left-arm bowler, he bowled just five overs in last year's T20 Blast competition but featured in five T20 matches for the England Lions against Pakistan A over the winter.
He took four wickets at an average of 25.50 and scored 98 runs.
The squad:
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey.
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