Graeme Swann is a former English cricketer who was born on March 24, 1979, in Northamptonshire, England. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler. He had respectable batting averages in Test and T20 cricket despite being a bowling all-rounder.
Background
Swann made his domestic debut for Northamptonshire in 1998. He delighted the selectors with his bat and ball skills, making 92 and 111 against Leicestershire.
Soon after, he was selected for the England U19 side, which won the 1998 World Cup. Swann has travelled to South Africa and Zimbabwe with the England A team. He took 21 wickets and was thrust into the limelight.
Debut
On January 23, 2000, he was granted his ODI debut against South Africa. ‘Chin,’ as he is known, bowled 5 overs and finished with figures of 0/24. England went on to win the match by 9 wickets in the 40th over, chasing down South Africa’s 184-run tally. Duncan Fletcher opted to rest him for the next game, not just because of his poor bowling performance, but also because of his laid-back demeanour.
He had to wait eight years to play for England again. On February 5, 2008, he made his T20I debut against New Zealand in his next international match. In their 20 overs, England set a total of 185. Swann had a run-a-ball total of 15. He bowled two overs in the second innings, with figures of 1/16. In the 20th over, New Zealand were all out for 152. The match was won by England by 32 runs.
Swann made his Test debut against India in Chennai on December 11, 2008. The series was the first in India after the terrorist attacks of 26/11. Swann bowled Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid in his first over, completely perplexing the Indian batsmen. He had match figures of 38.3 – 2 – 145 – 4 when he returned. India won the match by chasing down a 387-run mark in the fourth innings with six wickets in hand.
Rise to Glory
After the Test series in India, his career graph began to rise. In February 2009, he took over for Monty Panesar in the third Test against the West Indies. In the first innings, he took his first five-wicket haul. He returned with the numbers 5/57. In the fourth Test, he took a five-wicket haul in the first innings for the fourth time. Swann’s contribution as a spinner was enormous, particularly considering the England team’s overall composition.
The first home Test of the season for England was held at Lord’s in May 2009 against the West Indies. Swann finished with a 63 and a 3/16. In the 2009 Ashes, he had supplanted Monty Panesar as England’s first-choice spinner.
Low Points
Due to an elbow injury, he was forced to leave the ODI squad in the midst of a series against South Africa in 2012. James Tredwell, another spinner, took his place.
In March 2013, he was forced to withdraw from the New Zealand series due to a recurrence of the injury. This injury was a significant factor in his decision to retire.
Club Career
Swann represented Northamptonshire in English County Cricket from 1998 to 2004. In 2005, he relocated to Nottinghamshire. He was a member of their team until 2013.
Record in Numbers
With an innings best of 6/65 and a match best of 10/132, Graeme Swann has 255 wickets in 60 Tests. He’s racked up 17 five-wicket hauls and three ten-wicket hauls. With the bat, he has 1370 runs at an average of 22.1, with an 85 as his top mark. He has five Test fifties to his credit.
He’s taken 104 wickets in 79 ODIs, with a best of 5/28. (his only five-wicket haul in ODIs). He’s already got 500 runs under his belt, for an average of 13.89 and a high of 34.
Swann has 51 wickets in 39 T20I matches, with a best of 3/13. He has 104 T20I runs at a 20.8 average, with a best score of 34.
He is just the second bowler in Test cricket history to take two wickets in the first over.
Retirement
On December 21, 2013, Swann announced his retirement from all aspects of cricket. Since 2014, he has worked as a summarizer for the BBC’s Test Match Special. In the 2018 Big Bash League, he also became a commentator.