"I was awful" - Graeme Swann reveals why he retired mid-way in Ashes

Graeme Swann and Alastair Cook

Ex-English off-spinner, Graeme Swann has backed England captain Alastair Cook after the Ashes disaster, and said his own ‘awful’ performance made him take the call to retire from international cricket.

Swann believes that the 5-0 drubbing in the recently concluded Ashes series against Australia was a collective failure as a whole for the team, and nobody can blame captain Alastair Cook.

Cook was vehemently criticised for his performance as a batsman as well as a leader and was held responsible by many for the shock series defeat.

Swann was quoted by The Independent, “He had to change things and try to be a bit funky as the series went on because we were terrible.

“Whatever we tried wasn’t working. You can understand people saying ‘he’s not a good captain, Clarke’s got the rub on him’ but Clarke had a guy he could turn to at any point to get a wicket, seemingly at will, and Cooky never had that.”

But even after heavy criticism the Wales and English Cricket Board had decided that Cook would continue as the team leader. Many believed due to lack of options, Cook was retained at the helm of affairs of the English cricket team.

Swann also mentioned that No other English cricketer could do any better in that situation.

He further said: “No man could have captained us this winter, not a captain on earth. You could bring back Mike Brearley and it wouldn’t do any good. We were terrible.

“Quite simply I was awful. It gets to a point where you realise you’re hindering the team, not helping them in any way, and it’s a horrible feeling to come to terms with.

“You’re playing for your country, you love playing cricket for England, it’s your life. To come to that conclusion is actually one of the most sobering decisions I’ve ever had to make.

“It was horrendous.”

Graeme Swann himself retired from international cricket midway during the Ashes series. He called it off just after the third Test match.