Graeme Swann on defying coaching, slips catching and his UFO

During his five-year Test career, nobody took more wickets than this week's guest on Lessons Learnt with the Greats, former England spinner Graeme Swann. Swanny was a master of his craft, spinning his country to memorable wins in Australia and India and playing a huge part in England becoming the No.1 Test team in the world. What really impressed me was Swanny's simple yet beautiful perspective on cricket and life and how he mastered off-spin bowling by trusting his gut and learning a secret weapon from an Australian great. It's a wonderful chat with my old Ashes foe and as is always the case with Swanny, there are plenty of laughs. Rundown 01:18 - We start by going over some of Swanny's remarkable stats and how managed the pressure of playing at the highest level 11:18 - We discuss one of Swanny's career highlights (and lowlights for my Australian team) from the 2010 Adelaide Test 19:45 - Swanny talks off-spin and how he ignored coaching advice 26:48 - Swanny had two cricket goals; take a five-for at Lord's and score a Test century. He achieved one and here we talk about how he'd give up 100 wickets for the other 31:55 - We chat fitness and how Swanny's troublesome elbow brought an end to his career 38:50 - Swanny talks about the mental side of the game and how he thought slip catching was the ultimate test of concentration 46:52 - Here Swanny reveals how an Aussie legend taught him the ball that brought him countless wickets 54:19 - Swanny's take on the media on either side of the fence 59:12 - We talk finance and what Swanny would have done differently 1:03:42 - Swanny shares his life mantra and the inspiring people he has met 1:08:20 - We finish with Swanny sharing his favourite books Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.