Graeme Swann: The Breaks Are Off - My Autobiography

Product Description

Graeme Swanns transformation from international outsider to Englands primary match-winner & undisputed best spin bowler in the world has been remarkably rapid. Within two years of his 2008 Test debut he had become his countrys most reliable bowler made the shortlist for the ICCs cricketer of the year award & claimed an Ashes-sealing wicket. Yet the script took many twists & turns along the way. Drafted into the squad for the full tour of South Africa in 1999-2000. Swanns meteoric received a jolt. While some liked the cut of his jib others did not & England coach Duncan Fletcher already had a foot in the latter camp when Swann missed the bus for the first of two times on that tour. Suddenly he was judged on temperament & not talent. Although Swann candidly concedes he was nowhere near good enough for the top level at that stage in his career his jettisoning back to county cricket for the next seven years following a solitary one-day international hinted at a career wasted. A clash with then Northamptonshire coach Kepler Wessels triggered his move to Nottinghamshire in 2005. A County Championship winner in his debut season he was back in the England fold at the end of his third. Forever a flamboyant showman he made up for lost time with two wickets in his first over against India
- his habit of striking in his opening over a spell has become a party piece. You cannot keep the spotlight off him for long. Since moving into the top 10 of the world rankings for bowlers on the back of eight wickets in the Ashes-defining Oval Test of 2009 he has not dropped outside it & has been widely tipped to be the decisive factor in the defence of the urn in Australia.