Ajmal’s new delivery ‘teesra’ is a stroke of genius, Swann says

ENGLAND SPINNER INSISTS HE WILL NOT CHANGE THE WAY HE BOWLS

Dubai England’s No 1 spinner Graeme Swann is not bothered about Pakistan Saeed Ajmal’s new delivery ‘teesra’.

“All t he spinners t hat come up with these ‘ balls’ so to speak, the names are highly unoriginal and not impressive, but the ‘teesra’ is a stroke of genius.”

When asked whether he would also be presenting another kind of delivery, Swann said: “I wouldn’t bother. I’ve never sat down and thought about it. I’m just impressed by the word ‘Teesra’. Let’s face it, as an off-spinner you can have a ball that goes one way and one that goes the other and one that goes straight on.”

Does that mean he never likes to be involved in creating any mystery deliveries?

“I’ll happily be called a showman but I don’t think I have the bluster and the bravado that you need to be able to pull it off.”

Swann, who has taken 153 wickets from his 36 matches, believes that leg-spinners are more mysterious than off-spinners.

“Spinners with a bit of mystery are leg-spinners. Ajmal can be described as a fairly ‘wristy-off ’ spinner, but it is the leg-spinners who are harder to pick up if anything happens.”

Sticking to his style

Swann wants to continue bowling the way he does and keep taking wickets.

“With me it is a fairly simple process, you can slow down the camera if you want but it won’t show anything new. My mystery balls are the ones that misbehave off the pitch and then I’ll ask the batsmen if he picked it.”

Swann is delighted over his co-spinner Monty Panesar’s form in the warm up match against the Pakistan Cricket Board XI.

“It is great to see Monty back and bowling so well. It is always tough if you lose form and your place in the team. It is very hard to dust yourself down and get back to your f ighting weight. I think the best thing he ever did was making a move county wise and going to Sussex. He took himself out of his comfort zone and tested himself.”

Swann did not get many wickets i n t he f i rst two warm up matches but that hasn’t put him under any pressure.

“This week I wasn’t really focusing on how many wickets I took, I was focused on how well I was bowling and by the end I was very happy with it.”

In fact, Swann would love to bowl alongside Panesar in the Test matches. “I’ve always advocated the use of two spinners and I love the rhythm and tempo the game takes when there are two spinners.”

Swann went on to praise Panesar. “When he’s bowling well, as he was this week, it comes out of his hand so lovely and it fizzes and dips. It is great to talk to him about it because he is a spinner who spins the ball.”

BBC