Latest news with #GraemeSwann
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
MCC launches ‘cricket's got talent'
'I love how old school this is, it's cut-throat,' says Graeme Swann, the great England off-spinner, with his trademark enthusiasm. 'In two days' time, a few of these lads will be cut. But that pressure helps you in professional cricket: make sure you're not one of the guys who misses out.' Swann is in Lord's Pavilion on what feels like the first rainy day in months. He is not long back from India, where he was on commentary duty, and is relishing his first role as head coach, with the reformed Marylebone Cricket Club Young Cricketers. Swann is overseeing a sort of cricketing talent show. On Tuesday, he was joined by 22 young cricketers who have either been released by a first-class county, or are yet to be discovered by them. On Thursday, after two days' training at Wormsley, the beautiful Getty ground in Buckinghamshire, eight players will be cut from the squad. The remaining 14 will spend the next three weeks under Swann, playing red and white-ball cricket against a mixture of outfits: county second teams, Jersey, and the South Asian Cricket Academy, the brilliant intervention scheme that has already helped more than a dozen talented players find professional contracts. When the fixtures conclude, one player will have a county contract for the duration of the MetroBank One-Day Cup in August funded by MCC. Another two will be selected for MCC's tour of Zimbabwe this winter. Gray-Nicolls is also offering one player a bat sponsorship. All the players are paid a day rate through the month, too. 'They're a bit nervous this morning,' Swann says, smiling. 'But I understand that. The stakes are high and it can be overawing here.' Swann is from the modern school of coaching, focusing on providing inspiration and tactical insight, rather than smothering players in technique. He has worked with Trent Rockets and the England Lions and Under-19s. The South Asian Cricket Academy has already proved that talent is slipping through county pathways, and he is determined to help find it. 'There's a lot of untapped talent out there,' he says. 'I was a late developer. Look at Gus Atkinson, who suddenly put on pace, or Joe Root, who could barely lift his bat at 18. I hope to bring it out of these boys. I couldn't believe that Jack Carney, who I knew from England Under-19s, was here, and didn't have a pro contract. He's a brilliant player and if he's the benchmark, then I'm very excited. 'Not everyone fits into the traditional system. At the end of the day a county pathway is a coach's judgment. If they don't see someone in somebody, they slip the net. This is a brilliant opportunity, a shop window.' It is a treat of a day for the players. They are given an induction, which includes a talk from MCC chairman Mark Nicholas in the Long Room, then from Rob Key, England's managing director, and the legendary New Zealander Kane Williamson, whose stint with Middlesex starts this week, in the home dressing room. After lunch they net with Swann, have a gym session (not with Swann), and are given virtual reality concussion testing and education. The players, who are mostly in their early twenties, are keen to impress; some have first-class experience, but most do not. Key recommended Swann to Rob Lynch, MCC's director of cricket, who was determined to revive a scheme that fizzled out for financial reasons during the pandemic, despite almost 100 years of history; Denis Compton, Lord Botham and Phil Tufnell are all former MCC YCs, as are Ross Taylor, Daren Sammy and Travis Head. There is an 'irony' for Lynch that worthy work he did in his previous role at the Professional Cricketers' Association has contributed to the need for this scheme. He battled for a minimum salary in domestic cricket (currently £28,000 a year), but that meant difficult decisions for cash-strapped counties over who to retain. 'It means some players aren't being afforded the opportunities they might have been a few years ago,' he says. Lynch also knew first-hand the value of such a scheme. In 2000, he came to England as a wide-eyed 17-year-old Kiwi (he was Brendon McCullum's rival as a keeper-bat for New Zealand Under-19s) to be a YC alongside the likes of Rikki Clarke and Alex Gidman, later stalwarts of the county game. 'If I could relive seven months of my life, it would be those seven months,' he says. 'It was hugely educational, just a great opportunity to learn about cricket, life and myself while a long way from home.' Lynch and his colleagues would train at Lord's, and work with the ground staff, while juggling playing commitments in a mix of matches, from county second teams to the Army or Navy. He remembers finding a trip to the Oval to face Alex Tudor 'quite scary'. The YCs lived at the Hyelm hostel in Hampstead. Each Friday, Lynch would be paid £204.50 for the week in cash. First stop was the hostel, where he would pay £75 for a week's accommodation, including breakfast and dinner. 'Most of the remaining £130 would be gone by Saturday morning,' he says, laughing. A quarter of a century on, we live in a different world. The main barrier to such a scheme would be the sheer cost of accommodation anywhere near Lord's, but MCC appears determined to offer an avenue into the game. 'I'm convinced this pilot can work,' Lynch says. 'The vision for next year would be to extend the concept across the season, effectively creating a rambling side playing around the country, then returning to club cricket at the weekend. That could run from April to July, so counties could then pick up players for the back end of the season, when squads become stretched. 'MCC is a cricket club. We need to invest in cricket initiatives. Who knows where we can take this? Could it also be linked to the new world we are entering by taking on a Hundred team? We are the only one of the eight without a development pathway through the host county. Could this become the breeding ground for 18-year-olds to get in the team? For now, we just want to help some talented lads work their way into the professional game.'
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
MCC launches ‘cricket's got talent'
'I love how old school this is, it's cut-throat,' says Graeme Swann, the great England off-spinner, with his trademark enthusiasm. 'In two days' time, a few of these lads will be cut. But that pressure helps you in professional cricket: make sure you're not one of the guys who misses out.' Swann is in Lord's Pavilion on what feels like the first rainy day in months. He is not long back from India, where he was on commentary duty, and is relishing his first role as head coach, with the reformed Marylebone Cricket Club Young Cricketers. Swann is overseeing a sort of cricketing talent show. On Tuesday, he was joined by 22 young cricketers who have either been released by a first-class county, or are yet to be discovered by them. On Thursday, after two days' training at Wormsley, the beautiful Getty ground in Buckinghamshire, eight players will be cut from the squad. The remaining 14 will spend the next three weeks under Swann, playing red and white-ball cricket against a mixture of outfits: county second teams, Jersey, and the South Asian Cricket Academy, the brilliant intervention scheme that has already helped more than a dozen talented players find professional contracts. When the fixtures conclude, one player will have a county contract for the duration of the MetroBank One-Day Cup in August funded by MCC. Another two will be selected for MCC's tour of Zimbabwe this winter. Gray-Nicolls is also offering one player a bat sponsorship. All the players are paid a day rate through the month, too. 'There's a lot of untapped talent out there' 'They're a bit nervous this morning,' Swann says, smiling. 'But I understand that. The stakes are high and it can be overawing here.' Swann is from the modern school of coaching, focusing on providing inspiration and tactical insight, rather than smothering players in technique. He has worked with Trent Rockets and the England Lions and Under-19s. The South Asian Cricket Academy has already proved that talent is slipping through county pathways, and he is determined to help find it. 'There's a lot of untapped talent out there,' he says. 'I was a late developer. Look at Gus Atkinson, who suddenly put on pace, or Joe Root, who could barely lift his bat at 18. I hope to bring it out of these boys. I couldn't believe that Jack Carney, who I knew from England Under-19s, was here, and didn't have a pro contract. He's a brilliant player and if he's the benchmark, then I'm very excited. 'Not everyone fits into the traditional system. At the end of the day a county pathway is a coach's judgment. If they don't see someone in somebody, they slip the net. This is a brilliant opportunity, a shop window.' It is a treat of a day for the players. They are given an induction, which includes a talk from MCC chairman Mark Nicholas in the Long Room, then from Rob Key, England's managing director, and the legendary New Zealander Kane Williamson, whose stint with Middlesex starts this week, in the home dressing room. After lunch they net with Swann, have a gym session (not with Swann), and are given virtual reality concussion testing and education. The players, who are mostly in their early twenties, are keen to impress; some have first-class experience, but most do not. Key recommended Swann to Rob Lynch, MCC's director of cricket, who was determined to revive a scheme that fizzled out for financial reasons during the pandemic, despite almost 100 years of history; Denis Compton, Lord Botham and Phil Tufnell are all former MCC YCs, as are Ross Taylor, Daren Sammy and Travis Head. There is an 'irony' for Lynch that worthy work he did in his previous role at the Professional Cricketers' Association has contributed to the need for this scheme. He battled for a minimum salary in domestic cricket (currently £28,000 a year), but that meant difficult decisions for cash-strapped counties over who to retain. 'It means some players aren't being afforded the opportunities they might have been a few years ago,' he says. Lynch also knew first-hand the value of such a scheme. In 2000, he came to England as a wide-eyed 17-year-old Kiwi (he was Brendon McCullum's rival as a keeper-bat for New Zealand Under-19s) to be a YC alongside the likes of Rikki Clarke and Alex Gidman, later stalwarts of the county game. 'If I could relive seven months of my life, it would be those seven months,' he says. 'It was hugely educational, just a great opportunity to learn about cricket, life and myself while a long way from home.' Lynch and his colleagues would train at Lord's, and work with the ground staff, while juggling playing commitments in a mix of matches, from county second teams to the Army or Navy. He remembers finding a trip to the Oval to face Alex Tudor 'quite scary'. 'Breeding ground for Hundred' The YCs lived at the Hyelm hostel in Hampstead. Each Friday, Lynch would be paid £204.50 for the week in cash. First stop was the hostel, where he would pay £75 for a week's accommodation, including breakfast and dinner. 'Most of the remaining £130 would be gone by Saturday morning,' he says, laughing. A quarter of a century on, we live in a different world. The main barrier to such a scheme would be the sheer cost of accommodation anywhere near Lord's, but MCC appears determined to offer an avenue into the game. 'I'm convinced this pilot can work,' Lynch says. 'The vision for next year would be to extend the concept across the season, effectively creating a rambling side playing around the country, then returning to club cricket at the weekend. That could run from April to July, so counties could then pick up players for the back end of the season, when squads become stretched. 'MCC is a cricket club. We need to invest in cricket initiatives. Who knows where we can take this? Could it also be linked to the new world we are entering by taking on a Hundred team? We are the only one of the eight without a development pathway through the host county. Could this become the breeding ground for 18-year-olds to get in the team? For now, we just want to help some talented lads work their way into the professional game.'
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Shoaib Bashir showed real character to come back with three wickets on day two against Zimbabwe but the young spinner must keep showing signs of improvement to nail down a place in the Ashes, writes NASSER HUSSAIN
This is a big year for Shoaib Bashir. He is no longer the novice who England picked from nowhere after spotting him on Twitter making his County Championship debut for Somerset in 2023. This is his now his 16th Test match and, coming into Trent Bridge, he averaged 40 with the ball for England. After a while, those stats have got to start moving in the right direction. You can't just keep saying he is finding his way or that he is a work in progress. It has also been a difficult start to the season for Bashir in county cricket. He has been loaned out to Glamorgan and taken just two wickets in three matches at an average of 152. With India coming up and then the Ashes, the pressure is on him. But with all of that in mind, I thought he showed real character against Zimbabwe on Friday. Having started his spell with a full toss, and another couple of full tosses in his first three overs, you feared a little bit for him. But he came back to get three wickets, two of which were deliveries of real quality. The ball he got Craig Ervine with was exactly why England picked him in the first place – getting beautiful drop with that high release point and getting the left-hander driving. Even more encouraging, however, was the ball which bowled Tafadzwa Tsiga. It was a classic off-spinners dismissal of a right-hander, bowling that attacking line, encouraging the drive, and bowling the batsman through the gate. It reminded me of the way Graeme Swann dismissed Ricky Ponting in the Ashes at Edgbaston in 2009. If the ball is spinning, that attacking line should be Bashir's stock delivery to the right-hander because it brings in both edges of the bat. In the past, he has been guilty of bowling too straight, which means the only way he can dismiss the right-hander is either getting him caught at short leg or leg slip. Bashir's biggest problem, though, remains his control. It's a bit like when Swann made his England debut under my captaincy, when he was a bit young and naïve. You saw he had something but he didn't have that control. With a wrist spinner, you accept there may be the odd bad ball, but you cannot afford that from a finger spinner, especially in a first innings when you are often needed to do a holding role. With the way the pitches have been in Australia of late, England have the option of going into the Ashes with an all-seam attack. I wouldn't do that. I'd always want a spinner in Australia. But if it's not turning big, you need your spinner to get through 20 overs in a day and hold up an end so you can rotate your seamers at the other end. That's what Bashir needs to prove he can do against India if he is to play in the Ashes. There has been some talk of him dropping out of the team to find a place for Jacob Bethell, who can give England another spin option. But I think that would be too much of a fudge. Bashir is worth persevering with – but he has got to keep showing signs of improvement.
India Gazette
08-05-2025
- Sport
- India Gazette
Graeme Swann outlines reason behind off-spinners' ineffectiveness in IPL 2025
New Delhi [India], May 8 (ANI): Former England ball-tweaker Graeme Swann decoded the reason behind off-spinners' ineffectiveness in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the tournament heads towards its business end. Off-spinners have struggled to impress in the current season, and wrist spin dependency has increased heavily. Ravichandran Ashwin, a magician in the craft of off-spin, was dropped by the eliminated Chennai Super Kings in the middle of the season. While Kolkata Knight Riders' premier spinner Sunil Narine and Rajasthan's Maheesh Theekshana rely on their mystery spin. On the other hand, all-rounders Will Jacks and Aiden Markram have been used as match-up options against the left-handed batters. 'The reason there's not that many off-spinners playing is that there's just not that many around at the minute in world cricket,' Swann says. 'It's not because off-spinners haven't got a job to do. Part of the problem for a lot of off-spinners is this match-up thing that all teams buy into now - the idea that you can't turn it into the batsman,' Swann said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. 'Actually, because people now only face the ball turning away from them, people have got used to it. I swear, if a good off-spinner came in now... If they'd played Mo [Moeen Ali] all season at KKR, I reckon he'd kill it, because people have lost the ability to manoeuvre the ball as well. After a few years, it'll revert, it'll come back. But everyone is obsessed with wristspin,' he added. Rajasthan Royals stand-in captain Riyan Parag tonked five consecutive sixes off Moeen on Sunday, highlighting the majority's woes. As a real dearth of frontline off-spinners prevails in the ongoing cash-rich league, Swann feels their struggle comes down to their unwillingness to attack. 'People aren't prepared to rip the ball. The way you deceive people is not through darting it in. You have to be brave and be willing to get hit for a six, but you've got to dip the ball. And the only way you get a dip is by putting a lot of revolutions on the ball,' he said. 'If you're spinning it hard and getting it to dip, you'll get wickets. You might get hit for the odd boundary, but you will get wickets - especially against new batsmen. And let's face it, everyone gets hit for six now in T20. Expectations have changed. When I played, if you got 2 for 30, it was an abject failure, because you wanted to keep teams down at 140-150. Now, it's great.' (ANI)
