Arrogance has held England back - Swann

Graeme Swann has blasted previous England regimes for their "arrogance" in sticking to outdated game plans in limited-overs cricket and suggested that they "massively cocked up" by not selecting Adil Rashid in the Test team for the series in the Caribbean.

In a wide-ranging interview at a Chance to Shine school in Nottingham where he helped launch a new card game called "Switch Hits" for the charity, Swann celebrated the revival of England's ODI side but suggested the team that he played in had been flattered by their rating as No. 1 in the world and claimed they had been "awful" since 1992.

But despite his criticisms, Swann insisted that England are not the outsiders some suggest for the Ashes series and claimed Australia are not as good a Test side as New Zealand.

While delighted by England's improved performance in the Royal London ODI series against New Zealand, Swann remains frustrated that England persisted with what he believes was an "outdated" method for so long. "England were justifiably vilified in the World Cup," he said. "They were so stuck in their ways. It was the most obvious thing in the world that we were playing an outmoded, outdated form of the game. But arrogance saw us stick to our guns and say 'everyone is wrong'.

"It is so refreshing that now they have said 'yeah, tear up the old stats book, now we see what you mean we're going to go for it'. The whole outlook has changed.

"We were No. 1 in the world but if anyone says 'that's because you were the best team' then that's absolute bollocks. We were nowhere near the best one-day team in the world. We got extremely lucky. We had 18 home games, we had a series against India where, if we struggled, it rained. And it made people think what we were doing was right, hence the stifled approach up until three weeks ago.

"It's not Peter Moores' or Paul Downton's fault. It's English one-day cricket from the year 1992 onwards when we were world leaders. Ian Botham opened the batting and we experimented and had exciting players. You can't say they have been exciting ever since. They have been awful.

"When Michael Vaughan was Test captain, he was nowhere near good enough to be in the one-day team. But he was captain of the Test team and that has always held that much sway in England. The Test captain is the be-all-and-end-all of English cricket."

Swann accepted there would be times when the new-found aggression would backfire and results would go against England. So he believes it is essential the team management show the resolve required to endure the fallow periods. He remains adamant the young players coming into the squad now have the quality to succeed.

"We're too afraid of failing in this country," he said. "And we are a reactive public. So it will take courage to stick to the new approach. But they should take what New Zealand have done as a blueprint. There is no way on God's green earth we have a worse talent pool than any other country. We've got these players who, if unleashed and given free rein, can be incredible one-day players. You've just got to stick with them.

"Jason Roy will be brilliant opening the batting if given say, two years. He should be told: 'it doesn't matter if you keep failing, just keep going out there and whacking the ball'. Get James Vince in there, too. If they get given the same amount of time that the old England players used to get they will get the same results. They should be given more."

Swann, the top wicket-taker when England won the Ashes in 2013, believes Moeen Ali should start the series as England's spin bowler. But he remains angry that Adil Rashid, the uncapped legspinner, was not given an opportunity to gain some exposure of Test cricket in the Caribbean.

"England missed such a gilt-edged opportunity to see whether Adil could cut the mustard in the West Indies," he said. "At the time we all said it was a joke, but it seems all the more a glaring klaxon moment now. It is laughable. I would love to have seen him play three Tests in the West Indies. There was, as Test cricket goes, as little pressure as an England player can play under at the moment. It was the ideal schooling ground and they massively cocked up there.

"But the Ashes is a massive thing. Mentally it's a step up from Test cricket, which is, in itself, a step up from county cricket. So, Moeen has to play in the first game. He has bags of ability. He just doesn't have the 10 years of spin-bowling nous and experience he would have had had he been a spin bowler rather than a batsman who used to be thrown the ball a bit. Which in a weird way has put him ahead of the pack as he has avoided the coaching system that teaches spinners not to spin it in this country. He's very natural. He rips it. I still think he's the best option.

"But I think the Ashes are going to be a lot closer than people think. I truly believe that Australia aren't the best Test team in the world at the moment. New Zealand are. They're a similar team to Australia. They've good seam bowling, aggressive batting and their spinner, although he takes wickets, is probably their weakest link.

"They're similar teams. And, when you see what England did to New Zealand at Lord's, there's no saying they couldn't do that. If England fire - if Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler have good games - they'll win a couple of Tests."