Interview with Graeme Swann

England international Graeme Swann is itching to get back in action for Northamptonshire next year, after having a taste of life at the top.

Swann enjoyed his four month tour to South Africa with the England team, despite only appearing in a solitary one-day international, and is determined to get another piece of the action when the West Indies tour here in the summer.

The Northamptonshire youngster is aiming to get off to a flying start for his native county as he bids to win a spot in the England Test side in 2000.

"The tour was good for me and I learned a lot while I was out there. I am definitely returning a better bowler and it has certainly made me hungry for more top level cricket. International cricket is where it's at and I want to be right up there," he said. "I didn't play a lot of cricket on the tour, which is disappointing, but it has made me desperate to play county cricket again. I can't wait for the season to come round so I can prove that I'm worthy of a place at the top.

"I felt I didn't let anyone down but I knew from when they picked the team for the first Test, and then what followed in that match, that I might struggle to get a game.

"But I was netting all the time and working with Phil Tufnell, who I have learned a lot from. I have rubbed shoulders with some of the best cricketers in the world and that can only be good for someone at my stage."

Swann's topsy turvy tour took an unexpected twist when he was kept on by the England management for the beginning of the one-day series.

A back injury to Warwickshire's Ashley Giles gave Swann a chance to grab a spot in the limelight, and he was selected for England's first one-day international against South Africa, in Bloemfontain.

Swann failed to get a wicket and conceded 25 runs from his five overs, but impressed several observers with the amount of turn he extracted from the pitch.

"I didn't have any control over the field placings, and I was given fields that I'm unaccustomed to. I was being hit for runs in areas that I never normally do for Northants," he revealed.

That brief flirtation international cricket whetted Swann's appetite, and he was hoping to play in the next match against South Africa, under the floodlights at Cape Town.

But the allrounder was left disappointed when the selectors chose Gloucestershire's Mark Alleyne ahead of him, signalling the end of his first senior tour.

"I was really up for that game. I had chatted to The Management about my field placings, and when I saw the wicket I felt sure I would play. Just before the start they said Boo-Boo (Alleyne) was playing instead of me and I was absolutely deflated. The match was in the end set up for a little Swanny cameo and I felt sure if I'd played, we'd have won that match," he said.

Swann was an animated spectator as wicketkeeper Chris Read almost took England to victory, with an exciting innings at the death.

"I was really pleased for him because he was like me, and didn't really get a chance. It was very hard on him when they put Alleyne behind the stumps for the warm-up one-day matches. But he answered in the best way possible at Cape Town. It was a great knock, but I just wish I'd had a chance to go out there and bat with him."