Swann Finds A Bunny In Smith

In his seven Tests to date, Graeme Swann has pulled a rabbit out of the hat for his country on more than one occasion. In this back-to-back series with the West Indies, the world's leading wicket taker in Tests this year has certainly found himself a bunny in Devon Smith.

Swann has dismissed the left-handed opener five times in three Tests, and in every way imaginable. Smith's nightmares must centre round the grinning face of England's new spinner.

Taking a batsman's wicket creates a mental post-it note which clings to the consciousness of batsman and bowler. Over the course of following innings and matches it's nagging presence can either have little consequence or, in rare cases, escalate out of all control - becoming a full-blow horror novel. This is what Smith has experienced, with Swann seemingly being able to get him out at will - an unwelcome hangover from the Tests the Caribbean series.

The great thing about having a bunny, from the bowler's point of view, is that it entirely warps perspective. A batsman usually adept at countering spin can be sent into a flutter by a slow bowler who has his number. An experienced old pro can suffer fatal lapses of concentration every time the rookie bowler gets chucked the ball by his captain. And a man in imperious form can contract the jitters as soon as his nemesis begins a spell. 

Conventional wisdom does not come into it. The fact is that any other right-arm offbreak bowler in an England shirt would not cause Smith so much strife. Bring Swann's head into the picture and alarm bells begin to ring. It's not the bowling Smith can't play, it's the bowler.

If Smith can draw any comfort from the situation, it is that he finds himself in good company. So too does Swann. 

It could be argued that Glenn McGrath got the better of every batsman he came up against, but a couple in particular stand out. 

Former England captain Mike Atherton is often cited as McGrath's bunny, and with good reason - the deadly Australian dismissed him 19 times. It is often overlooked that he also claimed the prize wicket of Brian Lara 15 times, although his average of 41.40 runs per dismissal is vastly superior to Atherton's 9.89.

Of course, McGrath was an outstanding bowler, but Atherton came up against a plethora of those, and his reasonable Test average in the high thirties is testament to the fact that no other troubled him to the same extent.

McGrath's colleague, Shane Warne, was a similarly terrifying prospect for the batting fraternity, with no one suffering at his fingertips more than Daryll Cullinan. 

Warne dismissed the South African 12 times - not his record in international cricket - but the nature of Cullinan's travails make him the poster boy for all Warne's victims. The spin king's hold over Cullinan was such that he is now chiefly remembered as Shane Warne's bunny, despite being a mainstay of the South African team of the nineties, and the fact that he did, unlike many bunnies, eventually manage to improve on his hapless record - as he put it, by then "the story had been told".

Having a bunny affords the bowler an certain arrogance. Warne summed up his dominance by saying, "I was asked who I would like to bowl to for a living. I said I would be a very rich man if I was to bowl to [Cullinan]." Clearly he knew the truth in his words, the problem was that so too did Cullinan.

It is a phenomenon of the game and one of the many elements that make the bowler-batsman battle so intriguingly complex. Graeme Swann may be no Shane Warne, but right now Devon Smith would prefer to be facing the latter. 

    

Swann and Bopara Offer Hope

Temperament is a key element of elite sport. So often the difference between a good player and a great player or a team's success or failure, a good temperament in the heat of battle is a vital thing. In recent decades it has enabled Australia to produce both winning players and winning teams. Many an Ashes contest has been decided before it even began, the fragile and vulnerable mental state of the English failing to prove a match for the superior confidence and mind-set of the old enemy.

Ravi Bopara and Graeme Swann possess un-English temperaments, which bodes well at the start of an Ashes summer. How refreshing it is to see the marriage of ability with supreme confidence and an ultra-relaxed demeanor. We've never struggled to produce the ability in this country, but the latter has proved more illusive. Take the cases of Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash. They should have shared 40 Test centuries between them, and perhaps with Bopara's carefree approach to batting they would have. We can only hope Ian Bell takes a leaf out of the Essex man's book before he joins that unenviable list. 

Stories keep emerging about Bopara. Whether he's offering Pietersen earnest advice about how to fend off the type of delivery that accounted for him in his first innings golden duck, or having no clue what his interviewer meant by the term 'FEC', they reveal a refreshing and uncomplicated character. And it's a character which may just enable him to reveal his talent as often as befits an Ashes number 3 batsman; the nature of the opposition, one feels, won't overly bother Bopara.

The same can be assumed of Graeme Swann. Early in his career, Swann was viewed as an arrogant character - presumably because he had the audacity not to be consumed by self-doubt. He's had to wait longer than he deserved for a decent run in the side, and, as his no-nonsense hitting and beautifully flighted deliveries showed, he won't be wasting any time from here on.

Swann, the highest wicket taker in Test cricket this year, will play a crucial role in the Ashes. The Australians have had a handy knack of making the best bowlers look ordinary, but Swann will ensure they know they're in a battle from the off, and unlike others before him, he'll make sure it's settled on the pitch, and not before entering it. 

Bopara and Swann possess enviable temperaments, which in both cases will more than make up for a relative lack of international caps when they take to the pitch in Cardiff. They will be fearless and look to take the opposition on. If their teammates follow suit then England can regain the Ashes.

Barcelona Unsettled by Hiddink

The Spanish backlash which greeted Chelsea's Champions League semi-final first leg stalemate at Barcelona, was quite predictable and quite misguided. Different variants of the 'Chelsea's tactics are killing football' theme were banded about; it's fair to say that Catalonia was not overly enamored with the way in which they set about achieving 0-0 parity. 

Brilliant as Guardiola's team are to watch, they have adopted a rather arrogant view that aesthetically pleasing attacking football is more worthy than good quality defensive play. Few would argue that Barca's brand of total football is more easy on the eye, but the points system in football doesn't work like that of an Olympic diving contest. It's all about the result, and Chelsea deserve praise for securing a decent one. Far from do anything wrong, they did a lot right.

Believe it or not, defending is as much an art-form as attacking. John Terry is as impressive an exponent of his role as Thierry Henry is of his. The comments emanating from the Catalan camp seem almost to be accusing Chelsea of some form of cheating. "It's difficult to play against a team which doesn't want to play football," lamented Guardiola after the first leg. No Pep, they just didn't want to play your brand of football.

And what a good decision that turned out to be. Were Chelsea really meant to adopt a high defensive line and cavalier attitude towards protecting Petr Cech's goal, just like Real Madrid did on Saturday? Then they too would have found themselves four goals down by the end of the night. Important as it is to show the locals respect in a foreign country, that would be taking it a couple of notches too far. 

Barca's 6-2 mauling at the Bernabeu further underlined just how good a result 0-0 at the Nou Camp is. It also highlighted a tactical deficiency in the Spanish side's make-up; the lack of a Plan B. Admittedly, Plan A is very effective and has brushed aside all-comers in La Liga this season. However, upon encountering the Chelsea brick wall, Barca's only answer was to try and neatly pass their way through it. Unable to get their own way, they reverted to spoilt child mode and harmless jibes.

If Barcelona only know one way to play, then Chelsea, and in particular Guus Hiddink, know a number more. The plans the Dutchman has masterminded for his different teams over the years extend from Plan A right down the alphabet, and doubtless tonight's game will see Chelsea try something a bit different.  

It's fair to assume Barcelona wont, which should make for a fascinating tie. At this stage in the competition, there is much to be said for having tactical nous on your side.