[1] His father played first-class cricket for Otago and in the Hawke Cup for Southland,[2][3] and his grandfather Brian Dawon stood as an umpire in first-class cricket in New Zealand.
[2] After playing age-group cricket for Otago between 2004–05 and 2006–07, Dawson took up a scholarship to study at the Canterbury University.
He played club cricket for St Albans Cricket Club in Christchurch and played for the Canterbury A side without breaking through into the provincial team until the 2014–15 season.
[5][2] He played in a total of six first-class matches for the side, scoring 239 runs, including two half-centuries.
[1] This biographical article related to a New Zealand cricket person born in the 1980s is a stub.