Cricinfo - Blogs - Rob's Lobs - Goodbye ugly duckling, hello Swann

Paul Collingwood’s first overseas ODI in the hot seat was not, overall, a happy occasion. On-air, David Lloyd stopped just short of mimicking Terry-Thomas’s immortal expression of extreme annoyance - “You absolute SHOWER!” - but only just. Yet despite a terrifyingly accomplished batting collapse and a thumping defeat, there was a sense, especially while Sri Lanka were batting, that this, like it or lump it, was his, Collingwood’s, team. You could sense it in the vigorous outfielding, the turning of twos into ones, the aggressive use of bouncers, the strangulation of the home batsmen over the final 10 overs. You could also sense it every time Ravi Bopara ploughed headlong into the crease, beating the throw by the frayed skin of his forearms. However misplaced at times, the energy was palpable.

And nowhere more so than in the efforts of Swann, last seen representing the nation in January 2000, in Bloemfontein, on Duncan Fletcher’s first tour. He was revoltingly young for an English spinner, fairly full of it, a bit of a wag. Unafraid of expressing himself, he wasn’t scared, either, to give the ball some rip and flight. A Tufnell minus the insecurities. He also slept through his alarm one morning and missed the team bus. That was more than enough for Uncle Dunc.

Climbing back into contention has involved a switch of county, from Northants to Notts, backwater to Test ground. In essence, he remains the same, if a tad wiser. He still needs no encouragement to open those slim shoulders and clout balls to all parts but now, as today’s innings underlined, he can place and flick, pace and judge. Had it sped two inches wider, either way, the reverse-sweep that cost him his wicket, and England’s last chance, would have flown for four. Credit the idea and cherish the mindset rather than curse the narrow failure.

Better yet, he still puts more revolutions on the ball than any English twirler I’ve seen lately. And he still tosses balls up in that inviting, curling arc. The combination of the last two assets was good enough to have a customer of Kumar Sangakkara’s nous and ability deceived, beaten and stumped, when Sri Lanka’s second-best bat was well-set. Will there be a more encouraging delivery by an English cricketer this winter? I suppose we can dream.

A regular on Cricket AM, Sky’s chucklesome Saturday morning magazine show, Swann also writes a monthly column for the magazine All Out Cricket. The photo at the top of the latest finds him resplendent in a handlebar moustache. Or “Mo”, as such things are apparently known Down Under, where November is “Mo-vember” and men grow their facial hair to raise funds for charity. The Nottinghamshire first team recently stole the idea, turning August into “Mo-ugust” and sprouting for all they were worth in aid of Cancer Research, beneficiary Paul Franks’s chosen cause. Typical of the Swann outlook is the entry for August 9:

“What a day. 38 overs have completely sapped my energy, my body feels like lead and the tramp over the road is angrier than ever. Perhaps he is a true Notts supporter pissed off at conceding a hundred-run deficit. Even so I think trying to urinate on my car as I drive past is a little harsh.”

“I think I deserve to be here,” Swann had told Sky’s Lloyd in a pre-recorded interview screened between innings today. The emphasis was firmly on the “I” rather than the less certain “think”: declining to toe the company line on non-stop modesty is a risk, refreshingly, that he was fully prepared to take. An example, perhaps, of coach Peter Moores’s willingness to loosen the reins and embrace individuality where his predecessor shunned both. Neither did Swann blush at, much less resist, Lloyd’s entreaty to regale viewers of his famous impression of…David Lloyd. A man delighted to be in front of a camera, yes, but even gladder to be back where he always knew he belonged.

To resist tossing another thought into the bubbling Twenty20/Fifty50 debate would not be consistent with the principles of blogging, so here goes. Reassuring as it was after the breathlessness of the World Twenty20, the comparative sedateness of the longer format could prove its undoing. Make that should. Broad, Malinga, Fernando and even Collingwood did their best to enliven matters in Dambulla with some ungenteel bouncers (whoever thought they’d re-emerge as a major one-day weapon?) but maintaining focus was far from easy. If I want sedate, I want the entire enchilada: white flannels and forward defensives, bags of slips, the exceedingly occasional shot of airborne persuasion, and no bowling or fielding restrictions whatsoever (bar, that is, those designed to prevent Bodyline – The Return).

If space is to be made for the golden goose’s golden gosling – and space must be made if the best players are not to be driven to career-ending injury or useless pottiness - the only sensible option, surely, is to ditch the former. I’m sure the ICC’s precious TV deal could be rejigged to everyone’s satisfaction once the broadcasters calculate the profitability of screening three non-simultaneous games a day.

Nice. What more to expect from an English cricket writer. England has been thrashed once again, yet he has managed to dicover "silver linings" !!! and what a one.....Graeme Swann (has anyone heard his name outside England ?)!! talk about euphemism !! and he suggests that this guy is a best "twirler" England has seen this winter !!! guys, anyone remember Monty Panesar ???? the problem is the Brits will never learn their lessons.....and the series of mediocre "twirlers" continue to enjoy their hours in the sun in their blogs !! you know, its good that he avoids the word "spinners" because the Robert Crofts and Phil Tufnells and Richard Illingworths and Gareth Battys and Shaun Udals and god knows who...none got to 100 test wickets anyway and none good enough to play in even any 1st Class side in India or Australia....and of course the one good spinner that they ultimately managed to produce had to be of a non-Brit origin, so he could never be their blue-eyed boy.....an article on Swann !!! for god's sake....

Interesting indeed.
I'm so thankful that back home in Sri Lanka the media doesn't bloat up better-than-average spinners so early in their career, to make them seem like god-sends! Thus, not giving them a chance to fulfil their role with experience and patience.

I can only imagine how different someone like Kumar Dharmasena would have been treated if he was an Englishman! He'd probably be given an MBE if he did for England the same he did for SL in the 1996 worldcup! But alas, I doubt many so called Pundits over here would even consider him as a leading spinner over the past decade, because he was overshadowed by Murali.
Guys like Upul Chandana and Dharmasena were talent beyond words could explain more than guys like Udal,Batty, and dare i say, Robert Croft! and from what little i've seen over here, than Swann either.

Give the guy a break without building him up only to shoot him down as "yet another disappointment"

This article is so absurd- writing glowing tributes about swan's performance after just one match. Maybe he could have written about his abilities and skills and waited till the end of the series to judge him. I mean he didnt win the match for england.
Anyway, i really cant understand why england fail to produce top class cricketers(of british origin). They have a great domestic structure where top players around the world are willing to play. There is an emphasis being laid by the icc on associate nations being able to field home grown players. I agree it is a relevent problem especially with canada, which is filled completely with south asians and a few from the carribean. But just take a look at team england, the oldest cricketing nation- Monty, Shah, bopara, prior, pieterson, mascarenhas. 6 out of 11. A shame.Very soon england may become a hub for overseas players who feel they have a better chance of playing for england than for their country. Wake up england, the world laughs.

Richard, Monty is of non-brit origin because his parents are from India. However, in answer to Arjit I don't see what that has to do with the price of bread. Who gives a hoot if he is of non-Brit origin? He is a Brit. If you have issue with that perhaps you should ask the thousands, nay millions of people who have moved to Britain as to why they have done so. The answer is that these people have come to find a better life than they could've had in their own countries. As a second generation Indian who has been born and brought up in Scotland I support India only because Scotland is not a test-playing nation. YET! However I take great pride in watching people like Monty, Owais Shah and Bopara doing well for England as it shows that second generation immigrants are taking the country as their own as they should be.

As for Swann, he looks pretty good. Having watched the way he's been batting and his decent off-spin I can't understand why Giles was the English number 8 for so long with this guy around.

Monty seems to have test cricket nailed for the moment but needs to start performing much better in one dayers.

As I read the comments, I get a feeling that there was some racism going in the post and the comments. I am not here to stop anything, but to add fuel to the already existing fire. I did not like the title, first up. As I see the last comment before my writing, even I felt, Ugly duckling, that Rob Steen was referring to was Monty. But some bloke in the comments section, made it up by saying, it is 'ducklings' that turn into 'Swans, which I felt was fair explanation supporting the writer.

I only saw one wicket that was taken by Swann in yesterdays low scoring match and the way the players celebrated for Swann's rise in the team, looked as if, no one wants hardworking enthusiastic, passionate Panesar in the team. I doubt if English players had received any coaching from Duncan Fletcher but when it comes to dealing with Panesar, they inherited all the attributes from their ex-poker faced coach, Dunc, the Master and the Ring leader. And English players are thinking to have only English people, no, not the British passport holders, but those who were born to 'white' people ( I hate to use the word, white), then they are only day dreaming. If there is any average non-Brit player who wants to make it big in International cricket, his best chance would be to, start playing for British counties and progress gradually into the English side. And ofcourse, you have itsy - bitsy writers to hail or crucify the champions that the English has just unearthed.