Richard Dawson Cricketer
Richard Kevin James Dawson is an English first-class cricketer, who plays primarily as an off-spinner. Dawson attended Batley Grammar School and Exeter University. He played for the England Under-19 side against New Zealand in 1998/99 and Australia in 1999, and made his first-class debut for British Universities against the touring Zimbabweans the following summer. He first appeared for Yorkshire in 2001. He made his Test match debut against India in 2001/02, and filled in for the injured Ashley Giles during the following winter's Ashes series. However, since then he has found himself out of the England set up. In the 2006 season, Dawson captained the Yorkshire 2nd XI but at the end of that season he was released from his contract with Yorkshire. He was signed by Northamptonshire to provide cover for their England spinner Monty Panesar. Dawson was released by Northamptonshire at the end of the 2007 season, and began training as a journalist in September 2007. However in the 2008 English cricket season, he once again returned to English county cricket, this time with Gloucestershire; although not always a feature in their first team, he is their spin coach.
