Veteran England batter Liam Dawson’s last Test match was years ago, and it took him only seven balls on his return at Old Trafford to make headlines as he dismissed the left-handed Yashasvi Jaiswal as well. He came into England’s squad after Shoaib Bashir suffered a finger injury at Lord’s.

“Yeah, of course I was nervous. Obviously not [having] played for a number of years… but obviously nerves are a good thing and I think the older you get, the more you play, you sort of learn how to sort of manage those nerves,” Dawson said.

He also admitted that he was a much better bowler now than he used to be at the time of his debut in Chennai in December 2016. He claimed 215 first-class wickets from 85 games at 27.72, incuding 15 five-fers as well.

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“You know what, I had completely forgotten about that [Lancashire game],” Dawson said. “Obviously it’s completely different you know the domestic cricket to this…But yeah, I knew what to expect sort of coming into it sort of for a second time so that I think that always sort of helps to understand what it’s going to be like but yeah, you know Test cricket’s hard, you know you’re going to have good days, you’re going to have bad days but I think the biggest thing for me, I sort of understood what to expect whereas obviously before I didn’t really.”

“Probably [I’m] a little bit more consistent, understanding pitches a little bit better, sort of what players are looking to do sometimes and yeah I think the older you get you sort of learn how to manage sort of game scenarios. But yeah I’ve bowled a lot of overs the last few years and obviously when you bowl you sort of improve so yeah you’re still gonna have tough days but I do feel I’m a little bit, I’m a better bowler now than I was a few years ago,” he stated.

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“It’s one wicket you know, I’ve done nothing you know special there, it’s one wicket but yeah, it’s obviously another big day tomorrow. Yeah it’s nice to obviously contribute to the team early on, I’ve said to a few people that you know they age them out, I probably thought Test cricket was gone but obviously to be back involved is really cool and I’ve got to try and enjoy each day that I get. I mean Test cricket is completely different to domestic cricket so yeah, to get that wicket was a nice relief sort of coming back into it but yeah, it’s obviously a big day tomorrow and hopefully get a couple more,” Liam Dawson concluded.