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Swann happy with competition

Image: Graeme Swann: will not be looking over his shoulder

Graeme Swann is taking a positive view of the threat to his England place from a reinvigorated Monty Panesar.

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Spinner delighted to see his rival bowling well again

Graeme Swann is taking a positive view of the threat to his England place from a reinvigorated Monty Panesar. Swann has been England's first-choice since taking over from Panesar four years ago, becoming one of the most consistent spinners in the world across all formats. But Panesar has shown impressive form since being recalled as a second slow bowler against Pakistan earlier this year. He has taken five-wicket hauls in two warm-up matches, one in the United Arab Emirates and one against a Sri Lankan Board XI this week, and picked up 14 scalps in two Tests. England will again use both Swann and Panesar in the forthcoming series against Sri Lanka, but will probably revert to one slow bowler in the summer. Swann has been pleased by Panesar's return and is not interested in starting a rivalry over the spot. "I'm not (concerned about competition), I think it's quite a sad existence when people start looking over their shoulders," he said. "If in the summer Monty is bowling better than me and he gets picked then fair play to him. "Of course I'll be hoping to be the man in possession but if you spend your whole life just looking over your shoulder I think you're a fairly sad individual. "Monty is bowling beautifully at the moment and that bodes well because we need two spinners over here. If we're both bowling well we can hopefully bowl England to some victories." The two-Test series gets underway in Galle on March 26.

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