G Swann - 6th most consecutive matches missed for a team

[Aoun13]

Today I was just going through some all time record pages on cricinfo and I came to know that Swann debut for England in 2000 and after just playing a single ODI he was dropped. In that match he bowled for 5 overs giving away 24 runs with no wicket. He was called back in 2007. (7 years between)
What was the reason behind that?
Can anyone know any such player who for significant amount of time remain out of team and after his comeback become the integral part of that team.

 

[puddleduck]

People in high places weren't sure he was serious enough. Still is a joker really, but he definitely matured and worked very hard on his game.

 

[Aoun13]

People in high places weren't sure he was serious enough. Still is a joker really, but he definitely matured and worked very hard on his game.

I mean on what basis he was dropped? 5 overs for 24 runs?

 

[barmyarmy]

He didn't play for the test team back then. I've read his book recently and he also pissed off Rod Marsh and Duncan Fletcher.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

ashley giles took a long time to displace because fletcher liked the fact he was a good sledger or something ridiculous. Maybe it was batting actually, but that would be ironic as swann is a pretty decent bat, especially at county level where he plays in the top order. then panesar had a lot of hype behind him and kept getting chances as he was the next big thing.

Englands selectors are prone to having favourites which was a part of it but another reason is that there was an obsession with finding a spinner who would spin the ball away from the right hander, so giles and panesar being left handed always got the nod.

of course the slightly odd thing about that was with englands main focus usually being the ashes, australia focus on top hand technique means they play a predominantly left handed batting team, meaning swann should have been more appropriate.

 

[MUFC1987]

Let's be honest here. Swann hasn't always been a very good player who was held down by a couple of Coaches or something. He just genuinely improved over that time, to the point where he did enough to get a chance with England and he's taken it.

 

[puddleduck]

As video analysis has shown though MUFC, he was always a bigger spinner of the ball than most in the county game. He gets more revolutions than most other international spinners at the moment. So, it's fair to say, that whilst obviously he has matured and improved as a player (perhaps one to benefit from being able to hone his game in County) the talent must always have been there, and that whether it was his attitude or a clash of characters he developed later than perhaps he could have done?

 

[MUFC1987]

Whether he always had the talent and it just needed honing is probably a more philosophical question really, than we're ever going to get into.

He had a decent season in 2007 and then a very good season in 2008, which resulted in him getting a chance with England, that he took. Him taking wickets at close to 40, when England were winning the Ashes with Giles isn't going to get him in the side. As you or someone else said, Panesar came in and did pretty well himself, so it's not like we were chopping and changing spinners, desperately trying to find one. I just think that some people get better later in their life, as they know their game better and just gain more consistency, which personally, I think is what happened to Swann. Sure he may have had the raw talent, but you need to show it to play International cricket. I think it's wrong to say he was kept down and could have played much earlier than he did.