da dobrowin： Shortly before he left for the tour to Australia, Graeme Swann talked about playing for England, the Ashes rivalry, and retirement
da pinup bet： Interview by Felix White08-Jan-2014) For me, because I got back in to the England side a bit later, I don’t really care about the consequences as much.FW: Can you say what you want, knowing you’re not going to get dropped?GS: Well, I don’t know about that! It’s certainly easier when you’re older and when worst comes to the worst, you know that you’ve played a bit and taken some wickets… I feel sorrier for the young lads because they have to be media-trained.FW: What is media training?GS: It’s basically practising what questions you’re likely to be asked.FW: So they train you with the right answers?GS: Yeah – you protect the brand image of English cricket. It’s very carefully doctored…FW: I thought that was a joke when people say, “Oh, he’s been media-trained.”GS: It’s so you don’t put your foot in it and get the unwanted attention of saying the wrong thing by accident.FW: Ain’t that a shame though?GS: It is. That’s the thing about musicians and actors – there are no rules. You can do and say what you want. I like to be cheeky and express a bit of character in my interviews… I’m a massive believer that, you know, it’s tomorrow’s fish-and-chip paper. Once you’re playing well, it’s fine. We mentioned David Warner earlier – by the end of the series this summer, when he was playing well, he was almost seen as a hero. And that was on the back of batting really well at Durham. It’s similar to KP over the years.FW: I think the way it’s played out with KP has been great – he’s a great character. He says the right things and I like him for it.Graeme Swann: media-trained•Getty ImagesGS: If he doesn’t score runs for a while, the press gang up on him and they hate him and they vilify him. Then he scores 150, in a way that only he can, and he’s a great hero again. It proves runs and wickets trump anything else.FW: Have they tried to media-train you?GS: Yeah, we’ve all had it… Part of the training is how to be media-savvy, not necessarily telling you what to say.FW: Well, it’s the press’ fault as well then, surely? Didn’t cricketers used to hang out with the press not so long ago?GS: They did, but I think that’s just a change in society. Now with 24-hour tabloid television and Sky Sports News everything’s a story.FW: That must be horrible – like somebody’s out to get you at all times.GS: It is a little bit, but I’ve always thought there’s no point being antagonistic, because they’ll crucify you. And even if you feel you’re being harshly judged, like we did over the summer, there’s no point in me suddenly snubbing the press and giving one-word answers, because you’d get ripped to shreds. I’ve always viewed the press just as blokes. Especially when you see them on tour, they’re nice blokes; to a man, you’d happily sit there and have a beer with them. If I do an interview I talk as if I’m having a beer with them. There are one or two that have written things about me that I do harbour grudges about deep down, but I’m not letting you know who they are. Or them for that matter!
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The futureFW: Are you going to retire after the tour of Australia?GS: Me? I don’t know. I hope not, because I hope I can carry on. I’m taking it month-by-month really, especially injury-wise. My elbow doesn’t like playing cricket anymore. After a one-day game recently I honestly felt like I’d been set upon by a gang of thugs.FW: Does it hurt while you’re playing?GS: Yeah. I hope I get through the winter fine, and I’d like to break Derek Underwood’s record (number of Test wickets for an England spinner) as well – I think I’m about 50 off. For that I’d need another year or so of Test cricket. I don’t know, I’ll wait and see. Retirement wouldn’t be so bad though. I’d like to see my band go global!FW: Honestly, would you want to do that? What do you reckon you’ll do after cricket?GS: I’d like to think I’d do a lot of things – you only live once, don’t you? It’s been a good life and I think cricket will always play a part in it, but I hope it’s not the be-all and end-all. You see sportsmen go on about their kids so much – that’s because once you have kids you realise cricket isn’t everything. My two kids are much more important to me than bowling or whatever. I’d like to think that whatever I end up doing, it’ll be good crack.