Graeme Swann ‘pivotal’ for England in Ashes – Ashley Giles
Former England spinner Ashley Giles has predicted Graeme Swann will play a key role for England as they head to Australia in an attempt to defend the Ashes.
“Graeme Swann will play a lot bigger role than I ever played in Australia,” Giles, who was part of England’s Ashes sides that travelled down under in 2002 and 2006 and is now an England selector, said on ecb.co.uk. “And he’s going to be a pivotal part, a pivotal player, this winter.
“If he can stay fit, stay on the park, bowl well, he’s going to be a massive part in us winning the Ashes.”
Certainly Swann will arrive in Australia as a player at the top of his game, a fact borne out in the ICC Test bowling rankings where the 31-year-old is the top-ranked spinner, and is second overall behind http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dale-c52110 Steyn.
On home turf against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 this summer, Swann finished with totals of six, seven and nine wickets for the match in the final three Tests of the series, missing out on wickets only in the first Test in Nottingham, where with England’s pacemen ripping through the visiting batting line-up captain Andrew Strauss handed him the ball for just two overs for the entire match.
Usually, though, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 will be seeking to thwart come the Ashes.
Swann also provides England with comparative strength in their spin department for the Ashes, with Australia off-spinner Nathan Hauritz set to arrive at the Gabba for the first Test on November 25th on the back of some expensive bowling against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in two Tests on the subcontinent; in the first of which skipper Ricky Ponting opted to bowl part-time spinner Marcus North late in the match rather than his regular slow bowler.
But, can Swann and his teammates really do what no England side has done in Australia since 1967/87 and win the Ashes in the southern hemisphere?
Giles seems to think so, saying: “I think it’s the most realistic chance we have of going there and winning the Ashes in quite a while.
“It’s going to be a hard trip,” he said. “But to win in Australia, we never did, it but I truly believe this team can."
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