Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Graeme Peter Swann
Born March 24, 1979, Northampton
Current age 29 years 54 days
Major teams England, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire
Nickname Chin
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Height 6 ft 0 in
Education Spoone School, Towcester
Relations Brother - AJ Swann

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

ODIs

18.20

117

77.77

T20Is

15*

150.00

First-class

162

228

5620

183

26.50

114

List A

180

141

2526

20.04

Twenty20

594

19.80

440

135.00

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

ODIs

300

224

4/34

32.00

4.48

42.8

T20Is

2/30

15.33

7.66

12.0

First-class

162

26942

13556

411

7/33

32.98

3.01

65.5

List A

180

6890

5098

180

5/17

28.32

4.43

38.2

Twenty20

786

878

3/16

20.41

6.70

18.2

Career statistics

ODI debut

South Africa v England at Bloemfontein, Jan 23, 2000 scorecard

Last ODI

New Zealand v England at Hamilton, Feb 12, 2008 scorecard

ODI statistics

T20I debut

New Zealand v England at Auckland, Feb 5, 2008 scorecard

Last T20I

New Zealand v England at Christchurch, Feb 7, 2008 scorecard

T20I statistics

First-class debut

1998

Last First-class

Nottinghamshire v Lancashire at Nottingham, May 14-16, 2008 scorecard

List A debut

1997

Last List A

Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire at Nottingham, May 4, 2008 scorecard

Twenty20 debut

Worcestershire v Northamptonshire at Worcester, Jun 13, 2003 scorecard

Last Twenty20

New Zealand v England at Christchurch, Feb 7, 2008 scorecard

A self-confident and gregarious character, Graeme Swann is an aggressive offspinner, not afraid to give the ball a real tweak, and a hard-hitting, right-handed, middle-order batsman. He came to prominence with a maiden first-class century for Northants against Leicestershire in the Championship in 1998, his first season, and was regularly promoted in the batting order to provide impetus in one-day cricket. He impressed all observers with his positive attitude and energy. Fast-tracked into the A team to tour South Africa and Zimbabwe, he took 21 wickets at 25.61, and averaged 22 with the bat, prompting Wisden to comment: "Swann did spin the ball appreciably and emerged as a definite candidate for elevation. He had the potential to become a genuine allrounder, with a wide range of attractive strokes, though he needs to use them more selectively."

Called up for the final Test against New Zealand during England's inglorious summer of 1999, Swann was subsequently left out of the final XI, but rewarded with a place as part of the new-look England squad to tour South Africa that winter. He found life outside the Test team frustrating, but made his international debut at Bloemfontein in the triangular tournament when Ashley Giles's injury saw him called into the one-day squad. Swann bowled only five overs, but showed confidence in continuing to spin the ball appreciably.

However, his off-field conduct left some unimpressed - what some saw as confidence, others interpreted as arrogance or cheek - and he rapidly slid out of the international reckoning. After marking time with Northants for a while, he decided to seek fame and fortune elsewhere, and packed his bags for Nottinghamshire and Trent Bridge in 2005. This decision was justified when he was a key member of the Nottinghamshire side that won the County Championship in 2005. After the club's relegation the following summer, Swann played a major part in their return to Division One with 516 runs and 45 wickets. It earned him an international recall for the one-day series in Sri Lanka, nearly eight years after his debut.
CricInfo staff September 2007

May 11, 2008

Graeme Swann hit a quickfire half-century as the New Zealanders were set 368 © Getty Images

May 11, 2008

Graeme Swann brings out the reverse sweep © Getty Images

Feb 29, 2008

Graeme Swann is delighted with Monty Panesar's after the latter claimed a wicket © Getty Images

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