“All I know most surely about morality and obligation I owe to football”,
The Breaks are off
Return to the book list for this category.
Graeme Swann, Hodder & Stoughton, 2011. ISBN 978 1 444 72737 1
A good read but hardly worthy of the outcry and controversy that its publication caused. At a time when English cricket is on top of the world, Swann’s insights into the team and the English cricket set-up are very interesting.
The chapter “A place in history” on the 2010-11 Ashes win is excellent. Similarly his views on the Stanford debacle: “That Stanford trip was always all about money”.
Swann is not slow in expressing his opinions, for example:
His comment that Duncan Fletcher was very positive to his face but negative in the written tour report;
His thoughts on Kevin Pietersen as captain, “There is no doubt that Kev is a good player, a really fine batsman but he was never the right man to be captain, in my opinion. Strauss was. Some people are better leaders of men and Kev for all his abundant talent is not one of those natural leaders”.
His view of the importance of the Cricket World Cup: “there is no use pretending that it feels anywhere near as important as an Ashes series”.
As someone who is always on the look-out for interactions between sport and faith, I was amused by the account of a visit that Swann received from a minister in hospital in USA. Swann continues, “‘Would you mind terribly if I said a prayer for you?’ he asked. ‘In light of the operation you have coming up.’ ‘That’ll be fine, thanks very much,’ I told him, thinking he meant that he would go back to his congregation the next day and wish me good luck during a service. Oh, no. Instead, he put his hand on my forehead and, with his eyes closed, began in the most dramatic way possible ‘Dear Lord up there in the sky…’ I didn’t know what the heck to do. My eyes made contact with Julie [ECB physio], who sat open-mouthed, a mixture of shock and happiness etched on her face. In my uncertainty, I plumped for this: you know when you are at school and it’s time for the Lord’s Prayer in assembly, so you put your hands together and make a kind of fist. His good wishes went on for about a minute, and I had to lie still and silent for fear of cracking up. Safe to say that within 30 seconds of him leaving the room we were in hysterics”.
Swann also expresses strong views on walking: “To me, not walking is tantamount to cheating”. He continues, “ If you’re a batsman who never walks – and openly admits to never walking – you can’t complain if you get a bad decision every now and then. If you don’t walk when you’ve hit the ball and survive as a result, then you have no right to complain when you get a harsh decision”.
He also speaks up for sportsmanship – in the context of some of the barmy army celebrations: “I have a massive thing about being humble in victory and I hate people who aren’t. You celebrate properly. You don’t rub it in the faces of the team you’ve beaten”.
An interesting book. Some forthright views and some surprising ones.