Hampshire's Dawson retires from first-class cricket

Liam Dawson played in four of Hampshire's first five County Championship matches this season [Getty Images]

Hampshire all-rounder Liam Dawson has announced that he will retire from first-class cricket with immediate effect.

The 36-year-old will still represent the county in the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup, but feels now is the right time to step away from the red-ball game.

The Rose and Crown are five matches into the County Championship season and sit bottom of Division One after one win and four defeats.

Dawson - who bowls left-arm spin - played in four of those matches, taking seven wickets.

He missed the home game against Glamorgan because of injury, which Hampshire lost by an innings and 69 runs.

Dawson said that this call has been made in an effort to extend his career in white-ball cricket.

"This is a decision that I haven't taken lightly but I feel for the benefit of prolonging my career in white-ball cricket, the time is right," he told Hampshire's website.

"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."

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Dawson scored more than 10,000 runs and took over 350 wickets across 200-plus appearances for Hampshire.

He also featured four times in Test matches for England against India and South Africa, with his most recent appearance coming last summer at Old Trafford.

Only Robin Smith, Jimmy Adams and James Vince have scored more runs than Dawson for the county.

He scored 54 half-centuries and 17 hundreds, with a career-best innings of 171 coming against Kent at Canterbury in 2022.