Graeme Swann’s grandmother has blamed unwelcoming Australians for the spinner’s sudden retirement and said something “nasty” must have happened to convince the England star to turn his back on the Ashes.
Swann quit cricket after the third Test defeat as Australia reclaimed the Ashes, ending an international career which had yielded 255 wickets for the off-spinner.
“There is something gone wrong there and I blame the Australian players. Not all the Australian players, a certain one,” Mina Swann, 89, told The Journal newspaper in Newcastle.
“I do not think they have been (made) very welcome, the team. He is not easily upset, there is something nasty happened.”
Mina spoke of her disappointment at her 34-year-old grandson’s decision.
“He was as happy as Larry. He adored his cricket. It is a damn shame, he has lived for that game, he has done everything for that game.”