Here are a five facts about Hampshire's England new boy Liam Dawson, compiled following his surprise call-up to the World T20 squad....

 

1 KEVIN PIETERSEN IS HIS 'BUNNY'

'KP' spoke, before Wednesday's squad announcement confirmed his omission, of how much he 'would love' to be involved for England again at this year's ICC World Twenty20. He may be just a little relieved, though, at not having to face Dawson in the nets - having twice been dismissed for a golden duck by the left-arm spinner. Pietersen's vexed summer of 2012 contained a brilliant Test century at Headingley, but he had no such joy against Dawson for Surrey - going first ball to him in a mid-summer Twenty20 fixture and then unable to deal with a perfectly-pitched delivery which turned and hit off-stump for another 'golden' in a CB40 match at The Oval.

2 BEN STOKES IS NOT

Dawson himself could be forgiven perhaps for cowering a little at practice, when Stokes walks into the spinners' net. The charismatic all-rounder was still a teenager in April 2011, and Dawson had barely come of age himself as a county championship novice, when Stokes smashed him for five sixes in an over in the first match of the season. The first five balls all disappeared for maximums at the Ageas Bowl, before Stokes took his foot off the pedal for a single from the last.

3 IT FIGURES

Dawson still managed to finish with the comparatively respectable match analysis of 10-1-58-0, despite Stokes' brutal second-innings century. He has had better days, of course, though - including as England Under-19s captain in 2007, when he took six for nine against Malaysia, still the best figures for the national age-group side.

4 CANNY DEBUT

If he earns an England cap in India, Dawson may well be worth watching - because he has a knack of making an instant impression. His first-class career-best bowling came in his first match for Mountaineers in Zimbabwe four years ago, when he took seven for 51.

5 FRIENDS REUNITED

Dawson has known England Twenty20 batsman James Vince for almost half his life, and will meet up with his Hampshire captain again in South Africa this week before they both travel to India next month. Swindon-born Dawson and Vince both grew up in Wiltshire. The spinner said: "I played most of my cricket as a youngster at Goatacre, and then I moved to Chippenham where I first met Vincey when we were about 13. We played all our age-group cricket together, joined the Hampshire Academy - and now he's my captain."