Swann named T20 captain

Offie replaces injured Broad as selectors throw up mild surprise

 The off-spinner, however, fancied his chances for the vacant job. “Naturally, I thought about it when Broady wasn’t going to play,” he replied when asked if his appointment came as a surprise. “I looked down and thought, ‘Who’s going to do it? I wouldn’t mind!’ You don’t dare think it will be yourself because I’m not one for setting myself up for a fall. It was great when Andy (Flower, the coach) asked me – a very nice surprise.”

Swann will be captain for the two matches against the West Indies and India in October. “I don’t really know,” he said of what kind of captain he would be. “I like to think I’m proactive and make things happen but I’m sure in Twenty20, you can’t always be that and have to react. I certainly have my own ideas about fielding positions and that and checking with Andy that they are OK to put into practice. They are not that maverick, don’t worry.

“I’ve captained every game I’ve played in in my own head as it’s natural for players to do so. There’s certain things I’ll do differently from Stuart Broad and Andrew Strauss. But then the basic principle of our Twenty20 cricket is quite successful, so I’ll look to continue that,” he explained.

The mindset, Swann admitted, will have to change while handling younger lads in T20 as compared to Tests. “It’s a T20 series with a lot of young lads, so I’ll have to change the way I am from the Test side,” he offered. “I’m very much the joker in the Test side and that’s my role. I’m there for a stupid quip at the end of the session – that’s part of my role. That’s a very settled side with everyone knowing their place. With this group,  I’d naturally have to be more grown up and mature about things anyway. It’ll probably help if I have an armband around me – it’ll make sure I won’t slip up!”

Swann, however, has no designs on the one-day captaincy. “I’ve got no designs of denying Cookie his job. He’s a very good mate of mine and doing a very good job.”