ECB lines up Swann as spin consultant

he ECB has invited Graeme Swann to work with England's best young spinners.

Swann, who claimed 255 wickets in his 60 Tests and was arguably England's best offspinner since Jim Laker, has been contacted by Peter Such, the ECB's lead spin bowling coach, and asked to work with England Under-19s and those in contention for a Lions place. It is understood Swann will undertake several sessions at Loughborough, not far from his Nottingham home, ahead of the winter tours.

Alastair Cook recently brushed off questions about Swann's involvement as a coach, suggesting he was too busy with his media commitments. Swann works for the both the BBC and BT Sport, but he has often expressed an interest in helping where he can and frequently bemoaned the fact that, while England's batsmen and seam bowlers have specialist coaches with them throughout series home and away, spin bowlers receive less help.

The ECB recently hired Saqlain Mushtaq to work with the Test squad's spinners, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, for a few days ahead of the Old Trafford Test and hopes to use him again in the near future. In the past, Daniel Vettori, the former New Zealand spinner, has been used in a similar role, while Mushtaq Ahmed worked with the England team on a consultancy basis for a couple of years.

While Saqlain is expected to work with England's Test spinners at the start of their winter tours - potentially travelling to Bangladesh if that tour goes ahead - it is thought he may struggle to gain a visa to India.