It was 2,928 days, or eight years and six days. Or 102 Tests. That was as many Tests as Ian Botham played and he ensured many of them were eventful.
Liam Dawson’s exile from Test cricket also spanned eras. When he had last played, some of the names on either side – Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, Morne Morkel – evoke another age.
