Swann blasts ‘cheat’ Perera over catching row

London: England off spinner Graeme Swann has criticized Sri Lankan batsman Dilruwan Perera for refusing to walk after being caught at slip off James Anderson, and credited captain Andrew Strauss for restoring calm among the players.

Swann accused Perera of trying to cheat after knowing he was out. “It was very difficult to take, as it was so blatantly out. What annoyed us was the batsman stood there, knowing 100 per cent he was out. He chose to cheat in my view,” a daily quoted Swann, as saying. “I`m glad Straussy was there, because I`m sure it would have gone further had we not had someone with a bit of onus to calm things down,” he said. England had won the warm up game against Sri Lanka Board eleven with relative ease, as Alastair Cook, James Anderson and Monty Panesar gave encouraging performances. ANI