Graeme Swann retirement - tribute thread

[Buffet]

Let's keep all comments about reasons and timing of his retirement to other thread. Let's keep this thread for paying tributes to a great classical spinner and talk about his career. Here are some words about Swann by current and former cricketers.

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"England would never have made it to No1 without you, congrats on a great career" -- Graham Onions

"Huge admirer of Graeme Swann. An off spinner who did not need the 'doosra' to come 'pehlaa' in his many battles with top batsmen." --- Sanjay Manjrekar

"He's been an unbelievable spinner and someone who I watched pretty closely in my time." --- Nathan Lyon

"Also, many batsmen around the world have just exhaled a huge sigh of relief. Due to your constant challenge of the stumps and prodigious spin" --- Bresnan

"Congrats on an amazing career mate you can be a very proud man," -- Prior

"Great career Swanny. All the best for the next phase in your life. I am sure you will find something to do!" --- Jason Gillespie

"Got it done conventionally while others biffed the s*** out of it" --- Pakistan batting coach Trent Woodhill

"Loved how you achieved everything you wanted to." --- David Hussey


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In Last SA tour, Swann was the leading wicket-taker( 21 wickets) on either side in country not historically suited to spin bowlers. He was a hige factor in Eng drawing SA series. He was also instrumental in Eng drawing the series in SL and winning the series in India. He did great in last completed Ashes tour in Aus where he kept one end tight and tour resulted in 3-1 victory for Eng.

His classical spin bowling action was very good to watch. I personally remember Swann as a cricketer who always played hard and gave 100%. He brought some color to English side by his personality.

We will miss you Swann. Enjoy your retirement.

 

[amax]

One of the most exciting cricketers of this generation, full of flair, Passion and artistry.

 

[Robert]

The only thing that could have made Swanny's career better is if he had scored a test century. He had one in him....

 

[Mystrey]

Remember him running his mouth off at the Pakistanis so he's a classless man. Though as a player was quality and England will miss him.

 

[Jo_Don]

Been a great servant for England, go well.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

The best english spinner for at least the last twenty years

Will go down in history for his part in england's brief rise to number 1

 

[speed]

Don't see how England will replace him, any future series win In the SC looks out the equation without swann.

 

[Premier Cricketer]

He was a great spinner, just a bit pathetic how he ended it all of a sudden. If he couldn't play because of his elbow then he shouldn't have come on the tour.

 

[tahir_dj]

Tbh its unfulfilled career I would say. He still had 3-4years left in him just because he couldn't perform in Australia he decided to quit he forgot those pitches were tailor made for fast bowling.
I think it was more to do with stress factor

 

[pakistani pride]

Chicken. when the going gets tough... you know it.
Take the loss as a men and try to become better and beat the ozzies next time.

Swann, trott, anderson etc lost a lot of respect for these guys.

 

[Buffet]

If he couldn't play because of his elbow then he shouldn't have come on the tour.

Prospect of winning 4th Ashes in a row kept in him playing despite having a bad elbow. He was expected to hold one end like the last tour. Now, series is already decided. Anyway, as mentioned in OP, let's keep this thread for his retirement tribute and discuss the timing etc on other thread.

 

[Convict]

Very good bowler who served England to the best of his ability.

 

[BlackThunder]

"Got it done conventionally while others biffed the s*** out of it" --- Pakistan batting coach Trent Woodhill

Not good for a Pakistani coach to put down Ajmal and Hafeez while praising Swann, really unproffesional stuff.

 

[BlackThunder]

A quitter who could not sit quite for the next 2 tests and be a team man. Eng were embarrassed enough and Swann knew it despite that he did a selfish act of putting more fuel to the fire and to make matters worse also had a go at his teammates after retiring. Poor stuff.

 

[Wassixpakistani]

Great bowler and a massive spinner of the ball . Still remember his ball of the century to Imran Farhat in England where the ball pitched well outside leg and then spun back sharply to hit the off stump . Farhat , the crowd .. and maybe even himself must have felt bamboozled at that .

 

[Buffet]

"he'll go home as one of the England greats. Obviously he feels the time is right, and that's his decision." -- Lehman

"I've enjoyed my battles with him immensly, and I'm sure he'll be missed by England," --- Clarke

 

[soso_killer]

Congratulations on a great career.
I will never forget his performance in SA, kept on getting breakthroughs everytime we looked to build partnership. Was definately the key factor. A great ambassador of English cricket.
#RESPECT

 

[Justcrazy]

His rise as a Test spinner was extraordinary.

Fletcher just did not like him, yet he cemented his place in the side.

The best thing about his bowling was the way he deceived batsmen with flight , Hall Mark of a quality off spinner.

 

[Amir]

Was a enjoyable spinner to watch.

Unfortunate for him. If he was born at another time, he would have been regarded as the worlds best spinner but unfortunately he played alongside with Ajmal.

 

[majiz]

retiring when he did means he keeps his bowling average below 30. deserved tbf.

 

[hhhhdmt]

excellent bowler, people need to lay off him in this thread

I personally enjoy watching Swann alot more than Ajmal. Probably the best test spinner of his generation

 

[Saurav]

Classical spinner.was a joy to watch him bowl and generally play cricket as he did it with a smile as sports should be.

Cricket is poorer without him

 

[menace2society]

Tribute? For what exactly.

He would have become a more experienced version of Robert Croft if he carried on.

 

[Anwar_194]

Now fawad can feel better

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

[Silly Point]

Not good for a Pakistani coach to put down Ajmal and Hafeez while praising Swann, really unproffesional stuff.

Trent Woodhill sounds bitter because he was kicked out after champions trophy disaster. Having a cheap shot at Ajmal here.

 

[trogger]

Loved watching him bowl, nice to know a traditional offie could still survive and thrive in this era.

No matter how well we played him here i think he would have been very tough to face in 2015, him being gone really opens up that return ashes as england's clear advantage was spin and now it's gone.

 

[gsivak]

A good bowler but I never could like him.

 

[Bilal7]

250 wickets at an average of 30, SR of 60 and economy of 3.00 makes for some good figures. England's best ever spinner in my opinion.

 

[The Dark Corner]

Good spinner.

Adios.

 

[saiyan0312]

I didnt like the way he retired but that has nothing to do with what a fine and great spinner he was. He had a fine career and was one of the main ingredients to Englands rise to number 1. England will be hard pressed in replacing him.

So have a great retirement.

Englands team looks even more weaker now.

 

[Saqs]

And so cricket loses another one of its characters.

 

[Saurav]

Not good for a Pakistani coach to put down Ajmal and Hafeez while praising Swann, really unproffesional stuff.

I think he just meant how Swann was successful with classical old school off spin whereas otherwise we see lots of mystery spinners around nowadays.That includes guys like Narine and Ashwin

 

[Robert]

250 wickets at an average of 30, SR of 60 and economy of 3.00 makes for some good figures. England's best ever spinner in my opinion.

Certainly the best since Underwood. Postwar I'd say the top ten is:

Laker
Wardle
Lock
Underwood
Swann
Illingworth
Monty
Tufnell
Titmus
Edmonds or Emburey

....thought the last six were much of a muchness.

The Aussies all seem to regard Lock as a chucker of course, so would discount him.

 

[Saurav]

Certainly the best since Underwood. Postwar I'd say the top ten is:

Laker
Wardle
Lock
Underwood
Swann
Illingworth
Monty
Tufnell
Titmus
Edmonds or Emburey

....thought the last six were much of a muchness.

The Aussies all seem to regard Lock as a chucker of course, so would discount him.

Giles was better than some of those names imo

 

[Robert]

Giles was better than some of those names imo

I never thought so. He only had one good series really, in Pakistan.

 

[dani2k]

To be so successful in England as a spinner requires great skills and Graeme deserves huge respect for that. He also doesnt have a doosra if I am not wrong making him a favorite of old timers who don't believe that bowling the doosra itself is a skill. I dont want to get into a debate about the legitamacy of the doosra, but the point is that he has been successful with one less bow in his quiver.

Thanks for your contribution to the game Graeme. Wish you all luck for your future endeavors.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Swanny does a Samba to the BBC TMS theme tune.


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h-3Kc5Etd_g" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Ab Fan]

The best spin bowler since Murali and Warne alongside Kumble and Herath. An all-round all conditions bowler.

Murali
Warne
Kumble/Swann/Herath

 

[Ted123]

What was the whole story of Graeme Swann's retirement?

I don't know much about it but he did retired halfway the Australian series. What exactly was going at that point of time? Did he turned out to be kind of a quitter and also is his retirement similar to what we saw few years later in AB de Villiers case?? de Villiers retired an year before the WC as well and planned to take sabatical from tests in 2016.

Would like to know PP thoughts on this?

 

[Markhor]

He really ought to have retired after the summer Ashes but carried on for the winter Ashes despite his elbow injury.

After a few Tests he realised he was finished and retired midway through the series which he admits was a mistake, and should've quit at the end of the series. I think the toxic dressing room politics and differences between Swann's group and Pietersen was also a factor.

He's now made the transition into commentary for BBC TMS where he's very funny.

 

[Robert]

I don't know much about it but he did retired halfway the Australian series. What exactly was going at that point of time? Did he turned out to be kind of a quitter and also is his retirement similar to what we saw few years later in AB de Villiers case?? de Villiers retired an year before the WC as well and planned to take sabatical from tests in 2016.

Would like to know PP thoughts on this?

Like [MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] said, his elbow had failed and he could no longer take wickets. He should not have gone on that final tour but he got talked into it by the manager. Pressure from a generally unhappy team losing heavily in a hostile country got to him.

Swann was England’s best player between 2009-13. Excellent wicket taker, fine slip, hitter of crucial late order runs and brains trust to skipper Strauss.

 

[MenInG]

Former England cricketer Graeme Swann named his XI after International Cricket Council (ICC) asked fans to put together a team they would want to watch for the rest of their lives. Swann was one of the first to comment after ICC took to social media to make this interesting post public.

Their post read: “If you had to pick a team that you would watch the for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

Swann picked a team consisting of five Englishmen, three Australians and one from New Zealand, India and Pakistan respectively.

Swann listed the following names in his XI: Colin Milburn, Martin Crowe, Don Bradman, Mark Waugh, Sachin Tendulkar, Ian Botham, Alan Knott, Shane Warne, Harold Larwood, Wasim Akram and James Anderso

Swann picked Milburn and Crowe as his openers and considering the Englishman played just 9 Tests, his inclusion came as a surprise. The bigger surprise was that Swann didn’t opt for England’s highest Test run-scorer Alastair Cook at the top of the order.

Australian superstars Bradman and Waugh follow at number 3 and four respectively while Tendulkar comes down at number five. He is the only Indian to be included in this particular list.

Botham fills in the role of all-rounder while Knott is the wicket-keeper. Both are widely regarded as the finest to come out of England in their respective positions.

One of the fastest bowlers ever, Larwood, makes up the pace attack with Akram and Anderson while Warne remains the only designated spinner in the side.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...f-your-life/story-z0cI5f7V66Tqnd6d5tF6OL.html

 

[Robert]

Quite apart from all the wickets Swann took, he was a fine slip catcher and helped his skippers to read the game set fields. Cook was exposed as a skipper after Swann retired. Furthermore he was a very useful counterattacker at #9. Opposition sides thought they were through to the rail, butthen Swann would bash a fearless and quick 25 and change the flow of play.

 

[Ryw]

Graeme Swann: Kevin Pietersen and I openly disliked each other on England duty

Greame Swann admits he and Kevin Pietersen "openly disliked each other" when playing for England - but they still wanted one another in the side.

They were part of a hugely successful team that reached number one in the world rankings and won Ashes series both home and away.

Swann took 255 wickets in just 60 Test matches but retired during a 5-0 defeat in Australia in 2013.

When asked if a splintered dressing room caused their loss of form in an exclusive interview with the In the Pink podcast, he said: "There weren't discernible cliques, I know where you are going with that.

"We are a team that got to number one in the world, and in a team there are always going to be individuals. Ninety-nine per cent of that side were all in it for the team."

Pietersen was made England captain for a brief spell in 2008 but was only in charge for three Tests and 10 ODIs before a public spat with then-coach Peter Moores saw him step down.

Swann felt Pietersen's lack of fondness for authority led to that swift demise - a trait he admits he shares himself.

"With Kevin Pietersen, we had a situation where he had been captain before and didn't much like establishment and rules," he added.

"We were actually very similar in that way, and we actually got on me anD KP professionally better than most people because we very honest with but openly disliked each other. But wanted each other in the team.

"I wanted a KP in the team because he was scoring a lot of runs and playing really well, and simply he was one of the best batsmen in the world."

That argument is one which is hard to dispute - Pietersen's record of more than 8,000 Test runs and nearly 4,500 in ODIs puts him in an elite group of England players.

"There were times when it was all exterior things like the texting with Andrew Strauss," said Swann.

"When you get to the point when you're having these team meetings and discussing what you're going to do about these text messages but the player is saying 'I didn't send them'...

https://www.skysports.com/cricket/n...-i-openly-disliked-each-other-on-england-duty

 

[sweep_shot]

England are yet to find a proper replacement for Graeme Swann. They have tried many replacements but got little success.

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

He was a coward, retired during the Ashes.

 

[Robert]

England are yet to find a proper replacement for Graeme Swann. They have tried many replacements but got little success.

He was the first real wicket-taking spinner England had since Underwood. Panesar had a good year but then faded. I wish we had his like now.

 

[andy0204]

He was the first real wicket-taking spinner England had since Underwood. Panesar had a good year but then faded. I wish we had his like now.

Underwood is underrated,made Sunil Gavaskar and Greg Chappell his bunny.

 

[Robert]

Underwood is underrated,made Sunil Gavaskar and Greg Chappell his bunny.

He would have had the England wicket record if he were not banned in 1982 and would have been the fourth man to pass 300. In the end Willis was fourth, then Botham was fifth.

 

[andy0204]

He would have had the England wicket record if he were not banned in 1982 and would have been the fourth man to pass 300. In the end Willis was fourth, then Botham was fifth.

Same you can say about Boycott,Gooch if they didn't went to Rebel tour,they would have had made 10,000 runs.

 

[Ab Fan]

An attacking off-spinner and an England great.

Only behind Warne, Murali and Kumble in the last 40 years of international cricket.

He is better than Lyon, Ashwin, Herath and Yasir.

 

[Robert]

Same you can say about Boycott,Gooch if they didn't went to Rebel tour,they would have had made 10,000 runs.

Boycott was 42 by the time of that tour. His England career was over.

Gooch on the other hand lost three prime years. He was missed in the Ashes 1982/3, WC of 1983 and most of all against WI in 1984.

I have no doubt that he would have passed 10,000 test runs and be considered an England immortal.

Gower would have passed 10K had the intransigence of Gooch and Mickey Stewart not cost him his last three years.