Swann’s Way*

Graeme Swann and Ian Bell combine to dismiss Ashwell Prince for 16 runs: Swann would finish with nine wickets in the match. Photo: Paul Gilham/Getty Images.

With his long-sleeved shirt and buttoned-collar there’s something appeallingly old-fashioned about Graeme Swann. True, the sunglasses he often favours add a modern touch but, at bottom, Swann’s the kind of chirpy Englishman familiar from so many classic Second World War movies. You can easily imagine him serving under Noel Coward aboard the Torrin in David Lean’s In Which We Serve.

He is, without doubt, England’s cricketer of the year and I expect Wisden will ratify this come the spring when it the venerable almanack selects its Five Cricketers of the Year. Patrick Kidd has a nice piece in which he runs through all the necessary numbers: suffice it to say that Swann’s Year has been remarkable and that 62 wickets from his first 14 tests is a splendid return.