Graeme Swann is a rare cricketer, one who is increasingly difficult to find these days: a high-quality performer who doesn't take himself too seriously.
He had the press in splits on Tuesday at Lord's, answering straight, earnestly asked questions with the humour that has made him such a rage on Twitter.
Did he have plans for India's batsmen or would he react to what happened in the middle? “We have an army of backroom staff whose job it is to form game-plans after studying the batsmen,” said Swann. “And then it's about hoping the batsmen fall for Plan A or Plan B, and not Plans C and D because we don't have them.”
The truth is…
Was he more determined to do well against India because it's coached by Duncan Fletcher? “I've read that Duncan and I have an ill-tempered relationship, but the truth is Duncan and I don't have a relationship,” said the 32-year-old off-spinner. “I wasn't good enough to be picked when he was coaching England. That was that. Besides you can read all about it in my upcoming book.”
Swann's view on batsmen isn't uncommon — as a rule, bowlers regard batsmen as a pampered lot with a sense of entitlement — but no one has expressed this sentiment with as much feeling.
Asked about the arrangement of not using ball-tracking technology in the Decision Review System (DRS), he said there was a collective groan from the batsmen in the dressing room.
“A true batsman has never been legitimately out,” said Swann rolling his eyes.
“Any chance they get to stay out there they'll take. But in my view it (ball-tracking technology) should be used because umpiring standards have gone through the roof. They now know exactly what lbws to give.”
To target Dhoni
Swann picked Indian captain M.S. Dhoni as the man England would target.
“It'll be risky to focus all our energies on Sachin (Tendulkar) because someone else will come through the backdoor then,” he said.
“Dhoni is perhaps the most charismatic player India has ever had, you only need to go to India to see what hold he has there. I think he's probably more important to that team than anyone.”
