Swann backs Pietersen for England

Graeme Swann, right, has backed Kevin Pietersen, left, to continue his England career
26 January 2014

Former England spinner Graeme Swann has backed Kevin Pietersen to have an international future after the batsman's place in the national side was put in question.

Swann has also denied he was talking about Pietersen when he criticised players for thinking they are bigger than the game.

Swann quit in the middle of England's 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia but has told The Sun the team's future should include Pietersen.

"England's short-term future should include Pietersen," said Swann.

"People seem keen to create a rift between Kevin and the rest of the team.

"Among the more ludicrous stories was one claiming he did not go to the team's Christmas lunch.

"I know he did - because I sat next to him.

"Since being reintegrated in 2012, his attitude has been great. He was England's top run scorer in the Ashes and is one of the world's best players, so why get rid of him?"

Swann also revealed he had not been referring to Pietersen when he criticised players when he retired last month.

"At my retirement press conference, I made some comments about certain players being 'up their own backsides' - but I wasn't having a go at Kevin or any other England player."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in