At 30 years old England spinner Graeme Swann is no spring chicken, but since his first taste of international cricket ended up with him oversleeping and missing the bus this story could have a bit of a fairytale feel about it if things continue to go well … Not so much Swann Lake as The Ugly Duckling, perhaps?

The focus heading in to England’s second Test has been on local hero Graham Onions, and latterly the West Indies captain Chris Gayle, after he said he would “not be so sad” if Test cricket were to disappear.

While Onions bowled well at Lord’s I suspect Swann has the capacity to have the greater impact during the Ashes series and it’s vital for England that he maintains his form against the WIndies this week.

Swann bagged six wickets and a maiden test half century, earning him the player of the match award in England’s 10-wicket win last week.

There’s no doubt that England will need a solid bowling unit this summer. But equally important is the inclusion of a lower order batsman such as Swann to shore up the innings like he did at Lord’s on Wednesday and Thursday.

England’s Ashley Giles ‘The King of Spain‘ did an important job in that respect in the 2005 Ashes when he averaged 15.5 from 10 innings. That might not sound a lot, but it’s the staying in that counts and he managed that very well, enabling specialist batsmen to compile bigger scores at the other end.

England need Swann to do that sort of job against Australia. Another performance like the one he gave in the first Test would give the English the perfect pre-Ashes boost