Graeme Swann

Graeme Swann

Personal information
Full name	Graeme Peter Swann
Nickname	Chin, Swanny
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Batting	Right-hand batsman
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Bowling all-rounder
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 641)	11 December 2008 v India
Last Test	20 August 2009 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 157)	23 January 2000 v South Africa
Last ODI	29 November 2009 v South Africa
ODI shirt no.	66 (previously 24)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1998–2004	Northamptonshire
2005	Marylebone Cricket Club
2005–present	Nottinghamshire (squad no. 6)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches – – – – Runs scored – – – – Batting average – – – – 100s/50s –/– –/– –/– –/– Top score – – – – Balls bowled – – – – Wickets – – – – Bowling average – – – – 5 wickets in innings – – – – 10 wickets in match – – – – Best bowling – – – – Catches/stumpings –/– –/– –/– –/–
Source: CricketArchive, 19 December 2009

Graeme Peter Swann (born 24 March 1979) is an English cricketer. He is a hard-hitting right-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak Bowling all-rounder. After debuting for his home team Northamptonshire in 1997, he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005. Having played a single one-day international against South Africa in 2000, he joined the National Academy in the 2005 season, and managed to take thirty wickets during Nottinghamshire's County Championship-winning season. In 2007, Swann was chosen to accompany England on its tour of Sri Lanka as second spin bowler, alongside Monty Panesar, and subsequently cemented a regular place in England's Test team, playing throughout England's 2–1 victory in the 2009 Ashes. He currently lives in Nottingham with his fiancee Sarah.

Career

Swann bowling for Nottinghamshire against Leicestershire

Swann began his domestic career for Northamptonshire. Against Leicestershire in 1998 he scored 92 and 111, his maiden first-class half-century and century. Touring South Africa and Zimbabwe with the England A-team that winter, Swann took 21 wickets at 25.61 and averaged 22 with the bat. Wisden commented,

Swann did spin the ball appreciably and emerged as a definite candidate for elevation. He had the potential to become a genuine allrounder, with a wide range of attractive strokes, though he needs to use them more selectively.

In 1999, Swann was brought into the England team for the final Test against New Zealand. He did not play, but featured in an ODI against South Africa following an injury to Ashley Giles. This tour also saw him miss the team bus once due to oversleeping.

In domestic cricket, Swann scored his highest first-class score of 183 in 2002, sharing a partnership of 318 with Northants captain Mike Hussey (310 not out). He moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005, and finished the season of 2007 with 516 runs and 45 wickets, leading to his recall to the England side against Sri Lanka. While England fell heavily in defeat during the first match, Swann hit 34 to help seal victory in the second, and took four for 34 and hit 25 in the third as England took a two-one lead in the series.

An unsuccessful tour of New Zealand followed, and Swann was unable consistently to occupy a place in the England ODI side. He remained in the squad but faced tough competition from Samit Patel, who had already taken his first ODI five-wicket haul, against South Africa in his third match.

Following a loss of form to Monty Panesar, alongside whom Swann had played for Northamptonshire, Swann made his Test debut against India in December 2008, and made an immediate impact, dismissing Gautam Gambhir with his third delivery and Rahul Dravid with his sixth, both lbw, thus becoming only the second player in Test history after Richard Johnson (also for England) to take two wickets in his first Test over.

In the Third Test in the West Indies in 2009, he was brought back into the Test fold following the poor form of Panesar, and in this match collected his first five-wicket haul in a Test, 5 for 57 in the West Indies' first innings, including two wickets in two balls. This was the second-best performance ever by any spinner in Antigua. Swann also collected five wickets in the first of the West Indian innings in the Fourth Test.

In addition to a score of 63 not out batting at 9, he took six more wickets in the first home Test of 2009, again against the West Indies, at Lord's. This included three for sixteen in five overs in the first innings, removing Devon Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brendon Nash.

At the end of the one-day series against the same opposition, the England players were permitted to rejoin their counties in the build-up to the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 tournament. The transition, Swann wrote, was a comfortable one: with less media scrutiny and a relatively uncongested agenda, as well as the lower intensity of the cricket, he had himself some "great fun".

Swann gave a good account of himself in the World Twenty20, bowling tidily for his five wickets "while showing the passion for playing for his country that," according to journalist Nick Hoult, "endears him to England supporters."

The Ashes (2009)

Swann had done enough in the year preceding the 2009 Ashes to be considered England's premier spinner, overtaking Panesar. The pertinent question was not whether Swann would play, but which of Panesar and Adil Rashid, the other two spinners in the England squad, would play with him. He went on to play in all five matches of the series. Panesar was selected for the first Test, but his bowling did not impress and he was dropped for the remainder of the series, leaving Swann as England's only slow bowler.

In the first Test at Sophia Gardens, Swann hit a first-innings 47 not out from 40 balls. His bowling was anodyne, failing to pick up a wicket in 38 overs in Australia's only innings, in which they amassed 674 for 6 declared with four centurions, but his second-innings 31 helped England salvage a draw, as Australia were unable to take the final English wicket with Panesar and James Anderson at the crease.

At Lord's, Swann was part of England's first-innings slide from 302 for 3 (Andrew Strauss 161) to 425 all out, and was only required to bowl one over in Australia's first innings, as England's seamers combined to bowl Australia out for 215. However, in Australia's second innings, after Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin had briefly made a mammoth 522-run target seem attainable, Swann combined with Andrew Flintoff (5 for 92) to bowl Australia out, taking the key wicket of Michael Clarke bowled for 136. Swann took the final wicket of Mitchell Johnson, bowled for 63, to finish with second-innings figures of 4 for 87 and complete England's first victory against Australia at Lord's since 1934.

At Edgbaston, Swann was only required to bowl two first-innings overs, but nonethess made England's first breakthrough, trapping Simon Katich lbw to end an 85-run opening partnership. With the bat he contributed 24 from 20 balls as England's lower-middle order powered the side to a 113-run first-innings lead, and with England pursuing victory he clean bowled Ricky Ponting with a sharply turning offbreak, but on the final day his bowling was anodyne, failing to take another wicket as Australia drew the match with ease, losing only three wickets on the final day.

At Headingley Swann made a duck in England's first-innings collapse to 102 all out, and failed to take a wicket in Australia's total of 445. In the second innings he hit a defiant 62 but could not stave off an innings defeat.

England therefore progressed to the Oval with the series level at 1–1 and with a victory required to regain the Ashes. Swann took 4 for 38, combining with Stuart Broad (5 for 37) to bowl Australia out for 160. He hit a 55-ball 63 in England's second innings, sharing a 13-over partnership of 90 with debutant Jonathan Trott (119).

On the final day of the series Swann made England's first breakthrough in the fourth over of the day, trapping Simon Katich lbw. He claimed figures of 4 for 120, taking his tally of wickets to eight in the match, including the final wicket, Mike Hussey caught at short leg by Alastair Cook for 121, to clinch the Ashes series. He finished the series with an aggregate of 249 runs (fourth in England's list) at an average of 35.57, and 14 wickets (second among England's bowlers only to Stuart Broad).

In the 7th ODI in England's one-day series against Australia Swann took 5 for 28, helping dismiss Australia for 176. This was Swann's first five wicket haul in ODIs. England won the match by 4 wickets, with Swann named man of the match.

References

• Swann, Graeme "Sweet and short" Sky Sports 29 May 2009 (accessed 4 June 2009)

External links

• Graeme Swann at ECB
• Graeme Swann at CricInfo
• Graeme Swann on Twitter