Liam Dawson Retires from First-Class Cricket, Focuses on White-Ball Future

The 36-year-old all-rounder will, however, continue to represent Hampshire in the Vitality Blast and the One Day Cup, according to the Hampshire website.

Dawson has played over 200 matches for Hampshire in red-ball cricket, where he scored over 10,000 runs and took more than 350 wickets.

He also featured four times in Test matches for England, where he scored an unbeaten 66 on debut in India and took eight wickets, including dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal with his seventh ball on his return to the Test side in 2025.

"I've decided to retire from First-Class cricket. It's a decision that I haven't taken lightly, but I feel that, for the benefit of prolonging my career in white-ball cricket, the time is right. I'm extremely proud to have played over 200 games for Hampshire and have had some amazing memories with so many players over the years. I'm fully committed to playing white ball cricket for Hampshire and continuing the success we've had. To the fans and members who have turned out over the years, I can't thank you enough for your support. Hampshire will always be my home, and I look forward to playing in front of you all at Utility Bowl very soon," Dawson said as per the Hampshire website.

He was also awarded the PCA Men's Player of the Year in 2024, becoming the first domestic player to win the award since 2018. In the same season, Dawson also won the PCA Men's Domestic Overall MCP and the Vitality County Championship Player of the Year.

Following his standout performances in 2024, Dawson was named as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year to become the first Hampshire player to be included since Kevin Pietersen in 2006.

Dawson will go down in history as one of Hampshire's modern-day greats. Of men's Hampshire players in the 21st century, only Robin Smith, Jimmy Adams, and James Vince have scored more runs than Dawson.

He scored 54 half-centuries and 17 hundreds, with a career-best innings of 171 coming in Hampshire's victory over Kent at Canterbury in 2022 as the team went on to finish third in the County Championship.

From 2023-2024, Dawson had a remarkable purple patch with both bat and ball. He scored 1,796 runs across the two Championship campaigns, with nine fifties and six centuries, and took 103 wickets at an average of 22.69 with eight five-wicket hauls.

"Liam has been an outstanding servant to Hampshire Cricket. To have played over 200 First Class games for this county speaks volumes about his dedication and quality. He leaves a huge hole in the team and will be hard to replace, especially for the remainder of this Championship season. He is the only Hampshire player of the modern era to represent the Club in over 200 First Class appearances, which underlines just how rare an achievement that is at this level. We support Liam's decision and are delighted he remains fully committed to the white ball game. He has been integral to the success we've built in that format, and we have no doubt he will continue to be a match-winner for Hampshire for years to come. He remains a hugely important part of our plans," said Giles White, Hampshire Director of Cricket.

Across his County Championship career, Dawson finished runners-up in 2024 and third in 2022. He helped the club gain promotion from Division Two in 2014, with the club remaining in Division One since then - a period of 11 consecutive years in the top flight.

- ANI