Not the time to desert classy Swann

Graeme Swann did not have his best days in an England shirt in the first Test but that doesn't mean it's time to give up on the world's leading spinner and the hope that he will take the most wickets for England during the Ashes series.

It is a mark of how close it is all likely to be - and also of the hard time England's bowlers had in the first innings in Brisbane - that even in a bad match, he still managed to pick up a couple of wickets and is only four off the pace.

Steve Finn, who took six wickets and worked hard in the first Test, is a young bowler and it's more than possible he could be given a rest at some point. James Anderson bowled beautifully with very little reward in the first innings in Brisbane and will surely have his luck somewhere along the line, as will Stuart Broad.

But the fast men have a lot of work to do and with Adelaide and even Perth now offering them little by way of encouragement, in terms of pace and bounce, everything is still in Swann's favour. His form is sure to return sooner rather than later and it could just take one wicket to spur him on.

Bet365 certainly feel he is still the man to beat for they have only lengthened him a touch, back to his original price of 6/4. Finn is 2/1 while Anderson is 10/3 and Broad 11/2. Chris Tremlett, whose chances could be few and far between is 33/1.

Original preview
The Ashes are almost upon us and there are a thousand and one bets you could have on the five-match Test series that is still the envy of every other Test-playing nation. But if there is one bet you simply have to have, it's Graeme Swann to be England's leading wicket-taker in the series.

Swann was unlucky not to be named the international cricketer of the year for 2010 and it was only a stupendous year for Sachin Tendulkar that stopped him. The 31-year-old has taken 51 wickets in 10 Tests in 2010 and a total of 113 in just 24, which, for a spinner, is excellent.

Shane Warne may have set the bar rather high when it comes to judging spinners but the great Aussie would surely agree that Swann is the best spin bowler in the world right now, and he could be crucial to England's chances of success Down Under.

Unfortunately, his prowess is no secret and bet365 have made him favourite to be England's top wicket-taker from the start. Unfortunately, the 6/4 we originally tipped has gone, but even at 11/10 he represents value. Stuart Broad has leapfrogged James Anderson into second spot on 10/3, compared to Anderson's 4/1; Steve Finn is 9/2 and Chris Tremlett 11/1 and Tim Bresnan 14/1, with Monty Panesar 20/1.

Panesar will probably only play in the final Test in Sydney, maybe the fourth one in Melbourne, so he can surely be discounted, while Bresnan and Tremlett, while decent bowlers, don't have the experience to suggest they will perform in a first Ashes tour.

Anderson is a vastly improved bowler from four years ago when he found the conditions not to his liking, but he still likes the ball to be swinging to be at his most effective. And Broad, though he will love the harder pitches of Australia, is not a regular, prolific wicket-taker. Both Anderson and Swann have a far better wickets-per-Test ratio than Broad but Swann just about shades it.

Furthermore, he can be expected to be needed to do plenty of work in Australia, where the home side's strength is in their batting. He should bowl a lot of overs and with his confidence so high at the moment, I can't see anyone else coming out on top.

Anderson may have pipped Swann to top honours at home to Pakistan this summer, but it was only by one wicket and if anything, the spinner should be more effective, relative to his team-mates, away from home where he may have more to do.

The first Test is in Brisbane, which is traditionally a haven for seamers and does not offer too much for the spinners. Normally, the advice might be to wait until after the first Test but Swann does not need the pitch to be that helpful to be effective and the advice is to take the 6/4 before it disappears altogether.