Strauss: Swann will keep his England place

ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss has insisted Graeme Swann's arrest on suspicion of drink-driving will not cost the Nottinghamshire off-spinner his place in the national team.

Swann, England's premier slow bowler, was stopped as he returned to his home in the West Bridgford area of Nottingham on Friday morning.

The 31-year-old had reportedly been out celebrating his birthday, which was the previous week, before he was stopped.

Swann, who is currently ranked the third-best Test bowler in the world, had recently returned from England's successful tour of Bangladesh.

Swann is a key member of England's 15-man squad for the ICC World Twenty20, in which they kick off against hosts the West Indies on 3 May.

Strauss also expects him to be part of England's first Test of the summer from 27 May against Bangladesh.

"I don't think this affects his selection, or not, for the first Test match or the Twenty20," he said.

"I haven't spoken to Swanny about it. It's obviously not an ideal situation. Probably, if he had his time again, he wouldn't have got himself into that situation.

"I don't know what the circumstances are surrounding it at this point, but clearly it's not something we want our players to be attached to."