A change of direction

So the time has come to change direction slightly as far as my writing goes. I've decided to start my own website, so I'd be grateful if you could all check it out.

The logo needs a bit of work but I'll get on the case asap. Also, there's just the one article at the moment, but I shall get cracking very soon. Thanks!

http://bloodsweatandtiers.webs.com/

Graeme Swann reignites a dying flame; The art of off-spin is back on the market

A very familiar sight for England fans; Graeme Swann celebrates another wicket

English off-spinners are a bit like Wispa chocolate bars. They come and go because they don't stand out from the Galaxy or the Mars Bar, and every so often you have the urge to change course, perhaps to a Dairy Milk or a Twix. They don't satisfy your needs for very long.

In recent history, England have had a number of flirtations with various off-spin bowlers, more frequently of the left-arm variety. Phil Tufnell, Ashley Giles, Monty Panesar, even Ian Blackwell at one stage. Whilst the first 3 aforementioned names never did much wrong, they failed to produce what England really needed to become a threat on the world stage. Tufnell was a great character, a committed, all-action bowler. He was comedy gold with the bat and in the field, something that ultimately let him down throughout his England career. You could never quite take him seriously. The same can be said for Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, commonly known as 'Monty'. He was arguably a better bowler than Tufnell ever was, but his regular fumbles in the outfield and his inability to improve on his limited batting prowess meant that he was never really going to be a long-term candidate to fill the spinner's void. Indeed, it was clear that should his form with the ball waver, his place in the XI would be very much under scrutiny. Thanks to a number of disappointing performances, Monty has failed to nail down a first team spot ever since the unsuccessful tour of the West Indies in 2009. In fact, his only outstanding contribution since the Port-of-Spain test came with the bat. He defied belief in the opening test of the Ashes last summer, as a partnership of 19 with James Anderson for the last wicket secured a draw at Cardiff. It proved to be a vital period of the summer, as England went on to regain the Ashes with a 2-1 victory. Unfortunately for Monty, that proved to be his last contribution for the side to this day.

Sandwiched somewhere in between Tufnell and Panesar was Ashley Giles. Equally as affective with the ball as Tuffers and Monty, but far more adept with the willow in hand. Giles, comically known as the 'King of Spain' thanks to a misprint on the merchandise at Warwickshire, was to play vital roles in the victorious tours of the West Indies and South Africa in the mid 2000's, as well as in the historic 2005 home Ashes series. Whilst he struggled to consistently deliver wickets for his side, he scored crucial runs at exactly the right time to ensure England were rarely playing catchup. Nevertheless, Giles was in the side for his wickets, and the 2006/07 Ashes series down under saw the end of his international career. Injury and loss of form were the prime reasons for his disappearance from the England scene.

Gone are the days of Tufnell, Giles and Panesar. Enter Graeme Swann. A late developer into the England fold, Swann has the bubbly character of Tufnell, the stalwart work-ethic of Giles, and the constant excitement that Panesar always seemed to ooze. He is that, and so much more. Having made his international bow way back in 2000 against South Africa, Swann had to wait a further 8 years to get a 2nd bite at the cherry, and boy has he taken it. He made a quiet, but solid introduction to test match cricket in Chennai two winters ago, and has not looked back since. One-and-a-half years on, and Swann is on the verge of claiming his 100th test match wicket, 50th ODI wicket, and also occupies 4th position in the ICC world rankings for bowlers. At 31, Swann is doing his best to make up for lost time, in the same way Michael Hussey has done with the bat for Australia. He is arguably the most feared spinner in the world now that Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan has hung up his boots. It's fair to say he has taken the world by storm, and there seems to be no stopping him.

Swann's recipe for success is simple. He drips with self-confidence, almost arrogance at times, and that makes him who he is. He has a certain swagger, unparalleled with few in the modern game. Kevin Pietersen has it. Sachin Tendulkar has it. Swann is in great company. He also has an attitude to be admired by every youngster aspiring to be an international cricketer. He knows his limits, he knows how good a player he can be, and he does everything he can to fulfill that potential. He constantly strives to be the best, he lives and breathes cricket, and he simply loves representing his country, something that our footballers should take a very long look at.

Along with a superb attitude and untouchable confidence, Swann's ability cannot be ignored. Not only when ripping those offys and slipping in the odd arm-ball, but also when he's batting. He's an aggressor, someone who can take the game to a team. He can change the momentum down the order and lift spirits in the dressing room, even with a quickfire 30 or 40. It's an ability that the likes of Giles and Panesar didn't have, and whilst Giles could offer admirable support and resolution at number 8, Swann can do much more in a shorter space of time. His slip-catching shouldn't be ignored either. Lower-order big-hitting off-spinners don't tend to have a place in the slip cordon, but SwannCollingwood. All in all, it's a very impressive catching unit.

Whilst all this is a blessing for England, there is one thing in particular that makes Swann so special. It's very easy to be just another off-spinner. They're hardly the most spectacular bowlers on the planet, with the exception of Murali who was a unique entity. They are not the type of bowlers that you'll hear your kid say, "I'd love to be an off-spinner. They're so exciting". However, Swann has re-invented the art of off-spinning, somehow. He turns it big, he has a brilliantly disguised arm-ball, but it's something else that makes him stand out from the rest. It's the fact that as soon as he enters the attack, something happens. Panesar had that knack for a period of time, but nowhere near as frequent and remarkable as Swann's ability to make a breakthrough immediately. Including the ongoing test match against Pakistan at Edgbaston, Swann has taken a wicket in the first over of a new spell 20 times. It's a staggering statistic, and one which makes him such a prize asset in the England attack. What is more impressive is the fact that he doesn't necessarily bowl on big-turning wickets. English tracks aren't historically big rippers, and he has only played on the subcontinent once for England. It's a credit to Swann for his cricketing brain and his consistency with the ball that such a statistic exists.

With the 2010/11 Ashes series on the horizon, Swann is playing at the top of his game. He is also extremely well-supported, with James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn producing some wonderful form. Salman Butt, Pakistan's newest captain, recently suggested that his bowling unit of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul are the best in the world. Having watched and analysed the performances of England's pace trio, along with Swann himself, I would tend to disagree with that assessment. It's a unit which goes a long way to ensuring England don't endure another 5-0 whitewash at the hands of the old enemy, and for Graeme Swann, it's a great time to really push his case to be one of England's greatest spin bowlers.

Lampard and Terry included in England B team

Bobby Zamora takes a break from pretending he's a footballer

Fabio Capello decided to tackle a couple of bottles of wine whilst naming his latest England B team squad to face Hungary next week. The inclusions of Ben Foster, whose career highlight is being Edwin van der Sar’s number two for several years, Paul Robinson, who subsequently retired from international football having got the call-up, Bobby Zamora, England’s answer to Nicklas Bendtner, and those two world-class Chelsea legends Frank Lampard and John Terry, has got England fans drooling at the prospect of watching our beloved national team battle it out against that footballing superpower, Hungary, 3 days before the Premier League season kicks off. Oh, what joy!

What Fabio Capello has done is everything the nation wanted him to do, but with the wrong players. We wanted him to drop the drivel and engage with the exciting young talents that England has at its disposal. Having had a good rummage around, Capello felt that Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka and Kieran Gibbs were the answer. He also felt that the performances of Gareth Barry, Wayne Rooney, Lamps and JT merited a recall. I couldn’t agree more Fab. Afterall, we did reach the 2ND ROUND of the World Cup! Moreover, the exclusion of Joe Cole has got me thinking; What was going through the mind of Fabio Capello when he chose this latest crop of ‘stars’?

Way back at the start of the Italian’s reign as England manager, he stated that he would only be picking players based on form and game-time. To my knowledge he hasn’t verbally abandoned that strategy, but you do wonder whether he’s had a change of heart and resorted to choosing proverbial benchwarmers and mediocre performers. Wes Brown? Phil Jagielka? Darren Bent? Carlton Cole? Oh, and not to mention there’s a recall for Theo Walcott, who has clearly impressed Fabio more whilst lying on a beach in a beautiful European/South American country, than he did when ‘trialling’ and convincing everybody else in the world that he should be on the plane to South Africa.

I go back to Joe Cole’s emission from the 22-man squad. The only plausible motive for Capello to drop Cole is due to a falling out. If that’s the case, why the bleeding heck are John Terry and Frank Lampard still given reason to call themselves ‘world-class’ players? Terry couldn’t resist spouting his mouth off in South Africa, an incident that everybody thought would lead to his dropping post-World Cup. Lampard himself thought it’d be a great idea to criticise the timing of the match against the side ranked 62nd in the world. I read the response to his comments in the Daily Telegraph recently, and one fan got it spot on; “You need all the practice you can get you overpaid prat”. It’s what we’re all thinking, apart from the man that matters unfortunately. Lampard and Terry shouldn’t be anywhere near the England team.

Jermain Defoe is another player who has bizarrely been left out in the cold. What on earth did he do wrong in SA? He scored the goal that saved us from ultimate humiliation at the hands of Slovenia. Well, the other side of the argument is he scored the goal that dropped us right into the s*** against Germany, and perhaps that’s why Capello showed him the door. Surely there’s no other reason for doing such a thing? Defoe is a proven goalscorer, and he was one of 3 players in SA that wore the shirt with pride and looked like making things happen. Joe Cole was another, and James Milner makes up the trio. With Defoe and Cole dropped, Milner is the only outfield player in that squad, arguably along with Ashley Cole, who deserves the call. Everyone knows Wayne Rooney was abysmal so why is he still there? Gerrard was below-par, Glen Johnson looked a complete shadow of the player that earned him so much praise in his early days as an England player, and Gareth Barry is another prime example of an overpaid wotsit who has more of a place on the scrapheap than he does in an England team. Looking back, it was embarrassing how people were praying Gareth Barry would be fit and ready for the opening game of the World Cup against U.S.A. If we can’t do without Gareth Barry, what hope have we got?

There aren’t many in this current squad that I can say, yes, that’s a good call Fabio. Joe Hart is a superb goalkeeper and he was always a stick-on. I still don’t have a clue why he didn’t get a shout this summer, but that’s another strange Capello decision. He’s definitely in line to nail down the no.1 jersey now that David James and Robert Green are out the picture. Ashley Cole has done no wrong, as much as I severely dislike the bloke. Michael Dawson is a decent player who will give his all. It’s also nice to see Ashley Young getting another chance, although I’m still not convinced that he’s of an international standard. Time will tell there. Finally, Arsenal’s exciting prodigy Jack Wilshere has an opportunity to put his name on the footballing map and display his talents to the world. He looks a wonderful prospect for England. Lets hope he’s not half Welsh, ain’t that right Giggsy?

Finally, I’d like to wish good luck to all those hearty souls who have bought an overpriced ticket to watch an overpriced team play on the once hallowed turf of Wembley. I admire you for your committment. I certainly wouldn’t waste my wages on watching England B struggle to overcome the Hungarians. I think… No, I know I’d get more for my money spending an afternoon on the touchline at Ludlow Town FC.