Graeme Swann retires from international cricket with immediate effect

http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2013-14/content/current/story/702897.html

I guess he had been told he was going to be dropped from the team? Or he realised his heart really wasn't in it? Or there are all sorts of problems in that dressing room that we haven't yet heard about?

All will be revealed soon, I guess.

I think this is the right decision. His performances have declined over the past year quite steeply (although it was hidden in the Summer by Australia picking lots of left handed batsmen who don't know how to play spin). He's close to 35 and must know himself that his reactions are starting to fade and his bowling doesn't have the same zip. Persistent elbow injuries can't have helped.

He's quitting as England's finest finger spinner in a very long time, at least since Underwood and a useful all-round cricketer with his feisty batting and good catching in the slips. Very effective ODI player. His bowling average remains a shade under 30 and his batting average just over 22, fine numbers and a fine cricketer.

Also a fine example to players who appear to be lost in the wilderness of county cricket that there is still time to make a good Test career. Expect he'll turn up on TMS at some point in the near future.

The wheels are coming off in spectacular fashion. That's two senior players walking out mid-tour for reasons other than injury, will KP, Anderson or Prior be tempted to join them? Christmas back home must be a tempting option instead of completing a whitewash in Melbourne and Sydney.

For all the criticism he's had recently, Swann is the only world class spinner we've had in 30 years and it will probably be 30 more until we have another. We'll have to hope Monty can do a job for us for a few more years or otherwise it will be back to the old situation of playing a spinner who's not up to it or not playing one at all and relying on part-timers.

You'd think for the sake of stability, he would have announced his retirement at the end of the series. The fact that he's dramatically retired mid-series suggests there's a bit of anger/frustration there.

This Ashes tour is as diabolical as they come.

Given how rigid and extremely conservative England team selection is, I doubt he would have been told he is being dropped. Unlikely.

But he has done it in the middle of a high profile series. That does mean there are more things going on that have not been reported

Swanny- "I feel now is the right time to go"

Hmm......

So is this "all cricket" as being reported in some sources, or just internationals? I'd like to see him play another couple of seasons for Notts.

Expect he will have a couple of reality TV offers on the table though...

Henry wrote:http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2013-14/content/current/story/702897.html

I guess he had been told he was going to be dropped from the team? Or he realised his heart really wasn't in it? Or there are all sorts of problems in that dressing room that we haven't yet heard about?

All will be revealed soon, I guess.

The BBC website quotes from his statement in the Sun on Sunday [perhaps a grim place to die] thus:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/25481772 wrote:"People always say sportsmen instinctively know when the time is right to retire. I had that exact feeling during the Adelaide Test. (...) When I left home back in October I thought this might be my last tour for England. Then a couple of weeks ago, I looked in the mirror and I knew it would be. So now with the series beyond our reach I have just brought forward the decision by a couple of matches."

It may be that Swanny has suddenly become a grandmaster of diplomacy and discretion. Otherwise Trev's second guess looks the closest of his three stabs - with nome of that hidden agenda or other axes to grind on Graeme's part.

Of course GS deserves tributes and many thanks for his talents, his efforts and accomplishments in England's cause - at times he seemed England's only strike bowler - over the years. He should have been brought into the side and given a proper run a couple of years earlier, once his earlier, more obvious immaturity was past.

But I am not sure if here, mid-series and mid-shambles, is quite the place to break into song ... he quits at a time and in a way that temporarily damps the chords of wholehearted praise.

Perhaps that is just me.

IPL.

beamer wrote:So is this "all cricket" as being reported in some sources, or just internationals? I'd like to see him play another couple of seasons for Notts.

Expect he will have a couple of reality TV offers on the table though...

Looks like you might get your wish.

He could go into a career in impressions.



(btw: They'll be dancing in the streets of the nursing homes of Melbourne tonight)

Another thought:

I wish this were bigger news, and more of a sensation.

Paul Keating wrote:This Ashes tour is as diabolical as they come.

An optimist would say it's better it happens sooner rather than later.

Perhaps a blind optimist, though.

"The timing is bizarre. Swann implies that an early withdrawal is a selfless act – to give someone else a chance (initially it will be Monty Panesar, who has been grabbing some timely practice in grade cricket in Sydney over the weekend). The alternative view is that with the ship listing badly all available hands on deck would have been handy. And presumably he has signed a contract."

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/dec/21/graeme-swann-announces-retirement-cricket

I wonder about the last part too, in cases like this. Is there a get out clause in contracts? If so, that would require some sort of payment to the employers. Or maybe cricket contracts aren't so binding at all...

Oh, and btw:

Could we now maybe have a voluntary (self-denying) convention on FB to abstain from "rape/arserape" metaphors in sport contexts?

Seems an appropriate point.

Oh. That's helpful.

As others have said, he might've hung on until the end of the tour - what if Monty breaks a finger between now and the final Test?

The writing was on the wall once he returned from his second elbow surgery a noticeably less effective performer.

But, boy, are England ever f*cked now. Beyond this travesty of a series, the spin cupboard has nothing in it. Not a thing.

Monty (!) is going to have to hold the fort until Borthwick's leggies shape up a bit better or Kerrigan stops being utterly shit and a massive choker.

Grim times. Merry Christmas.

Perhaps Goughie's going to be the new bowling coach and Swann didn't fancy getting his lights punched out again.

Bloody hell, Anthony - I didn't have you down as a Guardian reader ....

From the same article:

"I could have made myself available for the last two Tests and maybe had a bit of a send-off from the Barmy Army. But that's no reason to hang on for two more games."

No sudden false modesty there then.

Dello wrote:Perhaps Goughie's going to be the new bowling coach and Swann didn't fancy getting his lights punched out again.

Or maybe it's nothing to do with Mushy or Saker - perhaps he's just jealous of Joe Root getting more bounce and (hence) being a slightly bigger threat?

Henry wrote:You'd think for the sake of stability, he would have announced his retirement at the end of the series. The fact that he's dramatically retired mid-series suggests there's a bit of anger/frustration there.

Its not really mid-series though is it? The series is over. Lost. Might as well start looking forward.

I think perhaps there's a bit of resignation in Swann's decision - he was never that effective on Aussie wickets at his best and why tarnish what has been a thrilling England career with 1-foronehundredandplenty.

For Monty its a challenge to step up as the main man. Many wanted him cast off a few months ago - now he has an opportunity to be England's No.1 for years to come.

Dello wrote:Oh. That's helpful.

(...)

Monty (!) is going to have to hold the fort until Borthwick's leggies shape up a bit better or Kerrigan stops being utterly shit and a massive choker.

Grim times. Merry Christmas.

How's Will Beer shaping up?

Brad "Job" Taylor should be ready in about 8 years, so nil desperandum.

In the meantime, maybe we can lure Ashley Giles out of retirement.

Or press Les Dawson (Hampshire's senior spinner) into doing a job. - Gilo can carry the mop and bucket.

Gary 111 wrote:

Henry wrote:You'd think for the sake of stability, he would have announced his retirement at the end of the series. The fact that he's dramatically retired mid-series suggests there's a bit of anger/frustration there.

Its not really mid-series though is it? The series is over. Lost. Might as well start looking forward.

I think perhaps there's a bit of resignation in Swann's decision - he was never that effective on Aussie wickets at his best and why tarnish what has been a thrilling England career with 1-foronehundredandplenty.

For Monty its a challenge to step up as the main man. Many wanted him cast off a few months ago - now he has an opportunity to be England's No.1 for years to come.

As long as they restrict his drinks intake.

PeterCS wrote:

Paul Keating wrote:This Ashes tour is as diabolical as they come.

An optimist would say it's better it happens sooner rather than later.

Perhaps a blind optimist, though.

Not necessarily blind optimism. Younger blood usually brings freshness and vitality. The Indian team for example.

It is the circle of life, Peter.

I am not one to worship corporate bigwigs, but here is an excerpt from that very famous Steve Jobs speech

"And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."

Bloody hell - Who killed Swanny?

Welly well well, have to say that is a surprise. Haven't read any details (will do so shortly, having just heard the news), but 34 is very young for an English offie to call it quits.

This won't help English morale at all.