With Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid resuming with scores on the board and the prolific Vangipurappu

With Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid resuming with scores on the board and the prolific Vangipurappu Laxman still to come, England could easily have been facing a deficit nearer the 400-mark.Fortunately for Nasser Hussain, who once again captained with steely resolve, it did not happen, for which most of the credit must go to Dawson and the other bowlers, though not the fielders. On another day of warm sunshine and blue skies, their efforts were devalued after two more chances went begging. As that makes five for the innings, four of them straightforward, it is a handicap even Australia would find difficult to make good.One of the chances came when India’s captain, Sourav Ganguly, charged at Dawson in an attempt to launch him into a raucous crowd. On 41 at the time, the left-hander missed the ball altogether, presenting James Foster with a simple chance to stump him.Unhappily for Foster, the chance was fluffed, the wicketkeeper’s second howler of the match, and Ganguly was able to regain his ground. Later, Dawson suffered again, this time after Graham Thorpe dropped Sanjay Bangar at extra cover off a leading edge, a miss Dawson eventually made good himself, when he caught the all-rounder’s skied slog off his own bowling.Like Foster, England’s other debutant in this match, the 21-year old Dawson’s rise from talented undergraduate to England player has been meteoric. Making one’s county and Test debut in the same season is not something that happens frequently.

In fact, it has not occurred since the 1920/21 season, when another Yorkshireman, Abe Waddington, played against Australia.Dawson, who graduated in Sports Science, has something of the young Atherton about him. According to England’s assistant coach, Graham Dilley, he is quietly determined, but enjoys a good laugh. Other impressions so far are that he is a bit of a clever clogs with a mind to be contrary in his dealings with the press. Neither are capital offences, though, and it should remembered that he is both young and from Doncaster.Taking 4 for 134, as Dawson did in his first bowl at Test level, rarely wins you matches. But if his bowling action can and will be improved to allow him to get more rotation on the ball without sacrificing accuracy, his mental approach could not be faulted.”The biggest plus was definitely his temperament,” said Dilley. “Bowling to world-class players on a pitch not overly helping him showed he has a future in the game at this level.

Someone with that temperament can go on.”If Dawson bagged the wickets, along with Matthew Hoggard who took 3 for 98, it was perhaps Andrew Flintoff who deserved them most after 34 overs of bowling that was fast, hostile and accurate.The change in Flintoff from the man who returned home from Pakistan a year ago with his bowling future in tatters, has been remarkable and it was one of cricket’s inexplicable mysteries – though two dropped catches did not help – that he remained wicketless.With his sleeves rolled in the style of a farmhand preparing for the harvest, Flintoff was able to muster enough discipline to allow Hussain to adopt a field that had just one man on the leg side. In fact, he kept Tendulkar from scoring a single run for 22 balls, a middling victory in itself after Dravid became the day’s first wicket after falling lbw to James Ormond, the burly bowler’s first wicket of the tour.Tendulkar, who tends to treat balls on their merits, was respectful of Flintoff. Along with Hussain’s strangling off-side field, it forced Tendulkar to review his scoring options, which had largely dried up. “As long as it’s nothing personal and there is no animosity a few words can be tolerated. We’re not looking for a faceless game.”Lindsay, who kept wicket for South Africa in the 1960s, was less convinced about the lights that Butcher and Trescothick had to bat under for the last few overs. Innings closed: 3.24pm.Dravid 50: 170 min, 126 balls, 5 fours.Tendulkar 50: 102 min, 77 balls, 8 fours.ENGLAND – Second InningsM A Butcher not out 11 M E Trescothick not out 16 Extras (b5, lb1, w1) 7 Total (for 0, 85 min, 20 overs) 34To bat: ? Hussain, G P Thorpe, M R Ramprakash, C White, A Flintoff, ? S Foster, R K J Dawson, J Ormond, M J Hoggard.Bowling: Yohannan 5-0-9-0 (w1); Siddiqui 4-2-2-0; Kumble 6-2-16-0; Harbhajan Singh 5-4-1-0 (one spell each).Umpires: S A Bucknor (WI) and S Venkataraghavan..

The England assistant coach, Graham Dilley, praised the efforts of Richard Dawson after the tourists eventually bowled India out for 469 in the first Test in Mohali yesterday. His county colleague Matthew Hoggard ended the innings less than an hour after tea to finish with 3 for 98.”I thought the biggest plus was Dawson’s temperament, bowling at world-class players on a pitch that didn’t help him particularly,” Dilley said.”He bowled with control That suggests there is a big future for him in the game. Someone with that sort of temperament can go on.”On his Test debut, the 21-year-old Dawson belied the fact that he had played only nine first-class games for Yorkshire. In fact, Dawson could have repeated the haul of the Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh with five wickets, but for some poor fielding.James Foster missed a straightforward stumping chance when Sourav Ganguly advanced down the wicket and Graham Thorpe dropped a regulation catch at cover from Sanjay Bangar.”We bowled with discipline and control, aggression when needed, but overall patience,” added Dilley. “We created some chances that weren’t taken and if you do that here you are going to be in the field an awfully long time.”Dilley, who complimented Dawson on his temperament, was critical of England’s fielding errors. This clearly is an area in which England need to improve if they are going to put any pressure on the free-scoring India batsmen.Dawson refused to write off England’s chances, however. He said: “We came here to play Test cricket and you need to get 20 wickets to win a match.