List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Graeme Swann

Portrait of Graeme Swann
Graeme Swann's 18 five-wicket hauls in international cricket are the joint third highest for an English player along-with James Anderson.[1]

Graeme Swann, a right-arm off-spinner, represented the England cricket team in 60 Tests, 79 One Day Internationals (ODI), and 39 Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) between 2000 and 2013.[2] He took eighteen five-wicket hauls in international cricket – seventeen in Tests and one in ODIs.[2][3] In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer")[4] refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement,[5] and only 42 bowlers have taken more than 15 five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers as of July 2015.[3] The English cricket journalist Scyld Berry described Swann as "the best off-break bowler that England have had for more than half a century", and "the most effective spinner that England’s limited-overs teams have ever had".[6] Swann claimed 255 wickets in Test cricket, second only to Derek Underwood (297) among English spin bowlers.[7]

Swann made his Test debut in December 2008, taking four wickets in a match which England lost against India.[8] His first Test five-wicket haul came early the following year against the West Indies at the Antigua Recreation Ground, when he took five wickets for 57 runs.[9] Once during his career, Swann took five wickets in each innings of a match, against Bangladesh in 2010. This was also the first of three occasions in which he took ten wickets in a match.[10] His career-best figures for an innings were six wickets for 65 runs against Pakistan at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in August 2010.[9]

In ODI cricket, Swann made his debut in January 2000 against South Africa, but off-field misdemeanours resulted in him being dropped from the team after just one match, and he did not play international cricket again until 2007.[11] His solitary five-wicket haul in ODIs was against Australia in September 2009, a match England won by four wickets. Swann took five wickets for 28 runs in the match, and was given the man of the match award.[12] He took 104 wickets in ODIs at an average of 27.76. Swann took 51 wickets in T20I cricket,[13] but did not claim any five-wicket hauls; his best bowling figures in the format were three wickets for 13 runs.[2] As of July 2015, his combined tally of 17 five-wicket hauls is twenty-seventh in the all-time list, a position he shares with Lance Gibbs.[10]

  1. ^ "Records / England / Combined Test, ODI and T20I records / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Player profile: Graeme Swann". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Records / Combined Test, ODI and T20I records / Bowling records / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings in a career". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Swinging it for the Auld Enemy – An interview with Ryan Sidebottom". The Scotsman. Glasgow: The Scotsman Publications. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  5. ^ Pervez, M. A. (2001). A Dictionary of Cricket. Hyderabad: Sangam Books. p. 31. ISBN 978-81-7370-184-9.
  6. ^ Berry, Scyld (10 May 2014). "England need to be quicker in finding spinner to succeed Graeme Swann – the current crop is not good enough". The Daily Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Records / England / Test matches / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Archived from the original on 10 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  8. ^ "England tour of India, 1st Test: India v England at Chennai". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Statistics / Statsguru / Graeme Swann / Test matches". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Records / Test matches / Bowling records / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings in a career". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  11. ^ "Graeme Swann: Career timeline". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Australia tour of England and Scotland, 7th ODI: England v Australia at Chester-le-Street". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Graeme Swann: England spinner retires from cricket during Ashes". BBC Sport. 22 December 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2015.