Swann brushes off book controversy

Graeme Swann is determined to set aside all distractions, perceived or otherwise, when he captains England today in defence of their Twenty20 world number one status against India.

Swann can reasonably expect to be leading his country for the last time, at Eden Gardens, with England’s world-beating Twenty20 status already on the line – less than a week after they became the International Cricket Council’s inaugural table-toppers.

Defeat, in a format still rarely contested at international level, would see England drop to third behind India and Sri Lanka.

Yet Swann, in charge for his third successive Twenty20, but only as caretaker while Stuart Broad and Eoin Morgan are injured, has a raft of other minor controversies clouding some minds, if not, he insists, his.

The off-spinner spoke for the first time at a press conference yesterday about the consequences – none, he believes – on England morale of his autobiography, which includes a candid critique of current team-mate Kevin Pietersen’s captaincy when he was in charge three years ago.

Then, as now, England descended to a 5-0 one-day series whitewash in India – after which a breakdown in Pietersen and coach Peter Moores’ working relationship resulted in both losing those posts.

If the perception that Swann’s book might have rocked the boat for Alastair Cook’s ODI tourists over the past two weeks was top of the agenda yesterday, there were other matters arising too. Swann found himself accounting also for England’s aggressive on-pitch behaviour, lamented by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as well as his revelation in a newspaper column yesterday that he had to block death threats on his Twitter feed from supporters angry about their team’s unexpectedly unsuccessful tour to date.

As for any detrimental effect from his autobiography, Swann stresses that is merely a creation of others’ imaginations. “My relationship with Kevin is unchanged,” he said. “It’s fine. It was a story that people were trying to make but which wasn’t there. I’ve read about dressing-room disharmony. But guys who are thinking that haven’t quite got their finger on the pulse.

“There are other reasons why we’ve lost 5-0. It’s our deficiencies in bowling and batting on this trip that have cost us the series.”

Swann does concede he might have expressed himself differently had he been able to foresee how his comments about Pietersen – and to a lesser extent Samit Patel and Cook – might come across in print. “With hindsight, I’d probably word it a little bit differently, so a few more people might see it for what it was,” he said.

“As [coach] Andy [Flower] said, when something’s written down the tone of your voice doesn’t always get portrayed as you’d like. People who’ve actually read the book would see it’s not a character assassination on anyone but myself. I’m sorry for anyone who’s bought the book thinking it will be a sweeping slagging-off of anyone who’s ever played the game, because it’s not that at all.”

Neither did Swann have to broach the subject with his team-mates before publication, because he knew there was no reason to fall out. “I didn’t feel the need to have a word with anyone, because it’s not, in my opinion, saying anything too derogatory about anyone,” he said. “It’s an opinion of mine about something that happened years ago.”

Swann is also dismissive of suggestions that England have gone too far with sledging and self-reproach on this tour – “I’d say we’re very gracious in defeat. We’ve had to be!” – and is able to laugh off those death threats too. “Social media is great,” he said. “You get a lot of fair-weather supporters. A month ago, we were the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it’s disappointing that some people feel the need to hide behind a computer and issue death threats to you over cyberspace – but such is the world we live in these days.

“I once mis-fielded a ball against Pakistan, and I got about 300 death threats. I think they were all from Jimmy Anderson’s family, though.”

Back in the present, he is encouraged that Pietersen, described yesterday as “very doubtful” to recover from a broken thumb, may yet have a chance of playing today.

Swann added: “Everyone’s buzzing, looking forward to it. The spirit in the camp is still very good, which is unusual for a team that’s lost 5-0. We are T20 champions, the current ones playing the previous ones. It’s a battle for the best Twenty20 team in the world.

“We have a nice chance to draw a line under the 50-over series and we’ll be looking to approach this match with a freshness.”