Patriotic Swann's thoughts turn to knight time

GRAEME Swann's humour and wit make a strong shield against nerves and the scale of an impending Ashes series meant that he was on top form yesterday.

Patriotic Swann talks it up

GRAEME Swann's humour and wit make a strong shield against nerves and the scale of an impending Ashes series meant that he was on top form yesterday.

He is aiming "to provide a lot of people with a lot of reasons to get very drunk" and called for a whitewash to be rewarded with knighthoods.

After the victories of the Lions and Andy Murray, the responsibility of bringing outstanding sporting success will pass to the England cricket team tomorrow come the start of the first Test against Australia.

Swann has never shied from wearing his patriotism loudly. He watched the rugby union game during a visit to the gymnasium and saw bits of Murray's Wimbledon triumph between practice. While he acknowledged that the weekend created a feel-good factor, he dismissed the idea of more pressure now being on his own team to live up to the standard set by fellow sportsmen.

"It is nice, but that is all," he said. "Someone asked me whether what has happened makes it more important that we win the Ashes, as though we would not have bothered trying if Andy Murray had lost to (Novak) Djokovic. No, we will be desperate to win this Ashes series.

"As a supporter, I am a huge fan of everything England or Great Britain does. I was as proud as anyone when they were doing well at the Olympics. In the football World Cup, I am screaming them on to inevitable penalty (shoot-out) defeat against the Germans every time. I feel the losses as much as anyone.

"If I was not playing in this series, I would be standing in a pub on Wednesday afternoon and staying there for six weeks solid cheering England. If we do well and get swept up in the euphoria we might end up with MBEs.

"Mind, some of our team have those already, so let's dream big and say knighthoods. Why not, if we win 5-0 and I take 50 wickets?"

Swann can expect a huge role over the five games. Along with many thousands of England supporters, he was left holding his breath last week as Tymal Mills, the raw but fast Essex bowler, forced him to undergo an X-ray after hitting him on the right arm in the warm-up game at Chelmsford. This after surgery on his elbow earlier in the year.

"My elbow was a concern after the winter, but all fears were allayed when I started bowling," Swann said. "The arm was more of a worry when I got hit by that thunderbolt.

"I think I was in shock; all my dreams were flashing before my eyes. I was thinking, 'I'm not going to play.' I could not hold a bat for 40 minutes. Fortunately, it is fine, apart from my ego being dented.

"The more Ashes cricket you play, the more you yearn for it. We were never banned from talking about the Ashes, or thinking about the series, but we were encouraged to put it on the back-burner and wait until this week. In truth, I have been thinking about it for months. When I was lying in my bedroom in America all I was thinking was 'this had better be right'."

Although Trent Bridge is his home ground, Swann has taken only three wickets in as many Test matches there. He bowled two overs against Pakistan in 2010 and returned match figures of 15-0-97-0 against India a year later. "I do like bowling here, but I accept there is not much help for a spin bowler," he said.

The Times