Graeme Swann Reveals the Secret to Winning the Ashes Down Under

Former English spinner Graeme Swann pointed out that the English players must perform brilliantly in the opening Test at Brisbane in the upcoming Ashes to silence the Australian crowd much like the 2010-11 series where England staged a sensational 3-1 series victory Down Under. Seven years after that famous win Swann said that the England players must do the same thing this time around.

This is what England did in 2010. From a precarious situation in the opening Test at Gabba, England staged a sensational comeback to save the game and later went on to win the Tests in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney by an innings to seal the series 3-1.

“The thing you’ve got to do is stop the noise,” Swann was quoted as saying by BT Sports. “And the easy way to do that in Australia is to get on top of them. Like the crowd in Rocky IV, who are all cheering for Ivan Drago at the start, but as soon as you get on top, they start cheering for Rocky. That is what the Australian crowds are like. In that second innings at Brisbane [in 2010], when we were 517 for one, you could hear a pin drop. By the end no Australians were in the in ground.”

Swann recalled what happened during that infamous series seven years ago at the MCG which showed how an intimidating atmosphere could get melt away pretty easily.

“Melbourne 2010, day one,” he said. “The noise was just phenomenal with 87,000 people there. But by the end of the play when we were 157 for none after bowling them out for 98, there were 25,000 Englishmen left in the ground. So that’s what you’ve got to do with the Australian crowds. If you get on top of the team, they’ll quickly turn on their own. But obviously the hard bit is getting on top of them.”

“Shutting the crowd up, getting their crowd to turn against their own team, because they certainly do that. You’ve got to get that inter-state rivalry working. When we won the Ashes in the 2010, I’ll never forget playing an ODI at the MCG and Michael Clarke getting booed every single shot he played. He was batting well as well, being booed by the entire ground, he further added.