How old is Graeme Swann, when was he on Strictly and is the ex English cricketer married?
GRAEME Swann is a former England bowler who took his dancing shoes for a spin when he took part in Strictly 2018.
Here's everything you need to know about him.
Who is Graeme Swann?
Swann took 739 first-class wickets and a further 305 in List A games on the county circuit.
Swanny is 39. He was born in Northampton on March 24, 1979.
He married his wife Sarah on January 29, 2010. They live in Nottingham.
The couple have two children, Wilfred and Charlotte.
During his time in the England Test team he became a key factor as the team rose to No1 in the world.
Swann played a key role in historic wins in both Australia and India.
Among his closest friends in cricket are the record-breaking duo Jimmy Anderson and Alastair Cook.
When did he retire from playing cricket for England?
Graeme took 255 Test wickets at an average of 29.96.
His best performance was 6-65 against Pakistan in 2010.
His one-day international record saw him bag 104 victims at 27.76.
He also scored 1,370 Test runs at 22.09 and a further 500 in one day internationals (ODIs) at 13.88.
In March 2010 Swann became the first English off-spinner since Jim Laker to take ten wickets in a match, claiming 10-217 from 78.3 overs in the first Test victory in Bangladesh.
In May of that year he was named ECB Cricketer of the Year.
In between July and October 2011 Graeme was the No1 ranked bowler in ODIs.
Swann announced his retirement from all cricket with immediate effect on December 21, 2013.
At this point, England were 3–0 down in the Ashes 2013-14 series.
When was Graeme Swann on Strictly Come Dancing 2018?
Graeme appeared on BBC Radio 2 on August 15 and confirmed he would be taking part in Strictly 2018, saying he couldn’t wait to get started.
The 39-year-old spin bowler explained: “It’s true - I’ve signed up for Strictly! I’m hoping to follow in the footsteps of the cricketers who’ve come before me who’ve either won the whole thing or had an absolute ball on the show."
Graeme was paired with Oti Mabuse and was voted out of the competition in week ten after losing out in the dance-off to Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts and Pasha Kovalev.
Reflecting on his time on the show he said: "To be honest let’s face it when you get down to the nitty gritty of this competition, I was on borrowed time, unless I learnt to fly or something I wasn’t going to get past here."
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Have any other cricketers been on Strictly Come Dancing?
Yes. Batsman Mark Ramprakash, 48, in 2006 and fast bowler Darren Gough, 47, the year before.
Spinner Phil Tufnell, 52, took part in 2009, and ex-England captain Michael Vaughan, 43, did the same in 2012.
Ramprakash followed in Gough's footsteps by landing the glitterball trophy in 2006.