We're very different in how we go about things: Dawson on England's spin bank

England's Super Eight campaign may still be taking shape, but one trend in their tournament so far has been clear: a growing reliance on spin. Across venues, and not just in Pallekele, England have increasingly leaned on their slower bowlers to control different phases of the game.

The numbers underline that shift. England's spinners have picked up 19 wickets in the tournament, the third-most among all teams, and under Harry Brook the side has bowled more overs of spin than pace, with 53.2 per cent of their overs coming from slower bowlers.

The captain's tactical tilt is notable. Brook is the only England skipper to use spin for more than 40 per cent of overs among those who have led in at least 10 matches, and his tenure has also produced a success rate of 75 per cent. In conditions like Pallekele, that flexibility has allowed England to operate with multiple spin options across phases rather than treating it as a middle-overs-only resource.

Liam Dawson pointed to the variety within the group as a key reason behind that comfort, as well as experience.

"I think so, yeah. I think we're all very different types of spinners as well. Obviously Jacksy [Will Jacks] gets very good overspin, very good bounce. Obviously, Dilly [Adil Rashid] has all the variations and me, I sort of don't get the bounce that the other two get. So, yeah, we're very different in how we go about things," Dawson said ahead of England's match against Pakistan.

"I think we're all very experienced. I think if you look at the amount of cricket that me and Adil have played, even Jacks as well. It's probably only with Beth [Jacob Bethell] that's probably got a little bit less experience when it comes to bowling. But yeah, there's a lot of trust in the guys that go out there and try and execute what you want to try and do. Some days it works, and obviously some days it doesn't, but I think T20 cricket can be a little fickle sometimes."

Considering the varied spin options in the England setup, the brief to the slow bowlers can also differ. For someone like Dawson, the role is often about keeping things quiet and allowing pressure to build. That said, he is also the second-highest wicket-taker among England's spinners since the 2024 T20 World Cup, with 22 wickets at an average of 20.59 and an economy of 8.06.

"We're all very different, out of the three or four of us I'm probably more the defensive spinner in this and I know that's my role and I'm just trying to be consistent for the captain. Adil can use all his tricks and he comes on us to get the wickets and get us back in games or put us ahead in games. Obviously Jacks has been brilliant, he's exploited conditions here very very well, with the overspin he gets. So we're all very different and hopefully we can continue, and obviously include Beth in that as well."

For all the control with the ball, England know their batting against spin can still be better. Dawson, though, framed it through results first.

"Of course, we know that we can play a lot better than we've played, but at the end of the day in tournament cricket you just need to get the win. However ugly it looks," said Dawson. "I think we were very good in the bilateral series here against Sri Lanka, where we played spin. We had a couple of tough games potentially, but we won. And then of the day we know that we can bat a lot better than what we batted, but we've won games and that's the main thing."