mvaughan

One of the major reasons as to why England have been so successful over the last three or four years has been the form of Graeme Swann. He was an integral part of the side that won back-to-back Ashes series and the last T20 World Cup.

He's a classic example of a late bloomer in the international game. He had a tough time at Northamptonshire in the early part of his career. Everyone seemed to acknowledge his talent but for whatever reason he never really kicked on and only very rarely showed glimpses of the match-winning spinner he could be. His move to Nottinghamshire, after Monty Panesar came onto the Northamptonshire scene, was probably the best career move he ever made and proof that county cricketers sometimes just need to move on elsewhere to better themselves as players. Chris Tremlett is another example of that and we've seen how his game has improved since he swapped Hampshire for Surrey.

Swann had an England call-up in the late 90s but it just didn't happen for him back then. People have suggested his attitude wasn't quite right at the time but I'd rather take the view that, in a number of different ways, he just wasn't quite ready to play at that level. He certainly is now!

The reason he's such a dangerous bowler has a lot to do with just how much he spins the ball. Some guys like Anil Kumble took endless wickets without actually doing that; it was the height and angle at which the ball was bowled that caused batsmen so much trouble. But Swanny really does rip it and in the process gets it to dip and in the right conditions, to drift into the batter. He's also such a great guy to have on your team because he's an aggressive bowler who looks to take wickets rather than just restrict runs. That said, if there was one criticism to make of him it would be that on occasions in ODIs he should ask the skipper for even more attacking fields to really put the opposition under pressure.

With Swann it's not just about the bowling, either. He's a right character and his jovial attitude in the dressing room can lift the mood when morale is low, or fight the boredom during those empty hours when rain stops play. I think the England team as a whole are a happier and more relaxed set of players with him around the place.

As a fielder Swann's up there with the best slip catchers in the game and he can bat a bit, too. His record for Notts is very decent, often batting in the top four in limited-overs cricket and I'd like to occasionally see him promoted up the order and told to play his natural, aggressive game. We've seen how sides like India occasionally send a lower-order boundary-hitter in at four or five in the right circumstances and I'd like to see England take a gamble like that from time to time.

He's 32 now and there will be those assuming he's got just two more years in him in international cricket, simply because that's the age at which most players call it a day at the highest level. But I'm not so sure. There aren't really any young English spinners putting any pressure on him for his place and if he carries on practising as hard as he does and maintaining the same love of the game, he may well still be an England player when the next ODI World Cup comes around.

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