5 cricketers whose late entry cost them legendary status

#4 Graeme Swann

Swann picked 255 wickets for England

Swann made his debut nearing the age of 30. He played 60 Tests for England picking up 255 wickets at 29.96 with 17 five-wicket hauls, including ten wickets in a match thrice. He also scored 1370 runs with the bat at 22.09, which begs the question, why the man wasn’t picked in an England side that was much weaker than the one he had played in.

Nevertheless, one of the shrewdest off-spinners the world had seen, with a clean action, Swann brought the ‘traditional spin’ back, picking wickets with discipline, guile, drift and dip, rather than with the wrong ‘uns.

Swann was instrumental in two of England’s most famous Test series victories – against Australia in 2010/11 when they won the away Ashes series 3-1 and against India in India in 2012, when they came from a Test down to win 1-2. In Australia, Swann picked up 15 wickets and against India, he was the leading wicket-taker with 20.

Swann, interestingly, called it quits on his career very early, at the age of 34. He could have gone on to play 100 Tests for England but thought he had had enough after back-to-back Test series against Australia, first at home and then away. Weirdly, he hung his boots in the middle of an Ashes series, something that is still hard to comprehend.