Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann said the hosts paid the price for dumping Stuart Broad in the first Test of the recently-concluded Test series against the West Indies, which the home side lost.
After missing the first Test, Broad returned to the England squad in a style, taking six wickets in the second Test and 10 wickets in the third Test to cross the 500-wicket Test mark beside a crucial knock of 62 runs to help the hosts seal the Test series 2-1 against the West Indies.
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In the recent Test series, Anderson was included in the first Test but was rested in the second Test before finally joining his long-time partner Broad in the third Test against the West Indies.
Swann has further slammed the England selectors for splitting England’s most successful bowling partnership of all-time Broad and James Anderson – the duo took 1,090 wickets between them, with 895 of those scalps coming in the 117 Tests they have played together, during the recent Wisden Trophy victory against the West Indies while terming the tactics as stupidity.
Swann was quoted as saying by 'Mirror.co.uk': “How stupid did it look to break up England's most successful bowling partnership of all-time when we lost that first Test match?”
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The former bowler further added, “Jimmy and Broady have formed one of the most successful bowling double acts Test cricket has known. Why would you want to chuck it out before its sell-by date? I can understand the attraction of 90mph pace, and both Jofra and Woody are huge assets. But I'm sorry, you don't discard blokes with 500 Test wickets lightly.”
Swann, a three-time Ashes winner, has also suggested England to not mess with the two experienced bowlers and give them an equal opportunity to try and make it to the 2021 Ashes in Australia.
The 41-year-old added, “You can't put a price on a bowler who runs in with the same passion and ability to make things happen in the 80th or 90th over of the day as the first. But when people ask if they can carry on until the Ashes in 18 months, why would we look a gift horse in the mouth? When you have people with proven track records like Jimmy and Broady, you don't mess about with them.”
He signed off, “You can't say that we will definitely pick them to go to Australia in 2021 because they will be subject to the same standards of form and fitness as everyone else. But we've just seen what happens when you drop one of your all-time top bowlers without really knowing why you're doing it.”
(With PTI Inputs)
