Nottinghamshire spinner Graeme Swann says that the defeats against Sussex Sharks and Hampshire which deprived him of NatWest Pro40 and LV County Championship glory were harder to deal with than the fallout from England’s defeat against Stanford Superstars in Antigua.

Swann has performed a vital role for club and country this year and although he admits that it would have been ‘great to win’ in Antigua, he says that the disappointment of missing out on the domestic front put England’s woes into context.

“Even though this was a big week publicity-wise I still think this ranks pretty low in the grander scheme of things where English cricket is concerned,” said Swann.

“Of the three big games I have played in over the last six weeks, which I count as the Pro40 finale, and the championship finale for Notts, then the other night, this one hurt a lot less than the other two.

“The Pro40 game against Sussex finished with me walking off barely able to speak, which has never happened to me in my life. Matt Prior tried to talk to me when I shook hands with him but I sat down with my head in my hands for an hour thinking the world had ended.

“Last Saturday I found it easier to be quite philosophical about it.”

The England squad touch down in India on Thursday and will play one day warm-up fixtures against Mumbai on Sunday and Tuesday.

The first of seven one day fixtures against India begins on Monday 17 November. Swann says that the squad is well prepared for the rigours of the tour and expects the quality of spin bowling to be a decisive factor in the series.

“We have had a week in the Caribbean, staying in a nice hotel, the food has been great, there was a great gym as well, so we were actually getting in shape for this India trip,” he said.

“It does add pressure given that they’re the best players of spin in the world but it is actually more fun bowling in international cricket because you’re always bowling at better players.

“At the end of the game you feel more pride if you have done well because you know you have had no easy wickets, no easy bowling.”