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MVP of the world?

My first memory of Graeme Swann is his very first over in Test cricket. What. an. over. No matter what happens in the future, no bowler will ever again be able to claim the wickets of both Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid in their first over in Test cricket and its unlikely that too many will claim two wickets of any kind. My imagination was captured that day and has been since and Swann has repaid the faith shown in him (first by Moores/Pietersen and then by Flower/Strauss) in spades.

Being named England's winter MVP was fitting reward and if you ask me, Swann is currently world cricket's MVP (along with Saeed Ajmal). Spin bowling in Test matches has taken a beating (no pun intended) in recent times and a look at the figures since 2010 sums it up nicely. With due respect to both Rangana Herath and Abdur Rehman (both honest, hardworking left-armers but unlikely to be around much longer), Swann and Ajmal stand out like a beacon with their performances and are basically keeping the art alive. And given that Swann is the younger of the two, world cricket needs him to keep going in this vein. Already, he has the third best strike rate ever (for spinners with more than 150 wickets) and the best ever if you exclude matches against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. With Harbhajan and Vettori having declined seemingly beyond repair, and younger blokes like Lyon, Ashwin, and Shakib Al-Hasan still settling in to Test cricket, Swann leads the barest cupboard in Test match cricket at the moment (wicket-keepers are the other category in danger).

Hopefully he'll play a decisive role in leading England to victory over South Africa and keep going from strength to strength!

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