England off-spinner Graeme Swann has said that what makes him so proud is that he has remained true to his joking Jack-the-Lad character, even if it meant upsetting people along the way.Swann, whose explosive new autobiography The Breaks Are Off is being serialised in Sun Sport this week, has given us an exclusive and revealing interview.He talks about his mistakes, his refusal to compromise, the thrill of playing for his country and what really makes cricket's comedian laugh.Swann admitted: "I always think I've laughed my way through my whole career and had nothing but good times. But, looking back for this book, I realise I've had a few years when things were awful."I've never been someone to live life on an even keel. I'm fairly up and down - that's the way it should be, it's much more exciting like that. I don't see any point not experiencing life's highs and lows," he adds He also says that it was a shame that England did not celebrate The Ashes in 2009 as it did in 2005."I still think it was a big shame we didn't celebrate hard. Instead, we played a damp-squib match in Ireland. It was almost as though people were saying, 'We can't possibly celebrate again because last time Freddie got drunk and Hoggy p****d in a plant pot'Swann said that he always tries to look on the bright side and openly laugh at things."So, I can look back at missed opportunities, oversleeping for the bus on tour, taking the p*** out of Nasser Hussain too often. It makes me laugh out loud because they've shaped who I am and you learn from your mistakes," said Swann.He adds: "I'd hate to sit here now having kowtowed to people and brown-nosed. I don't think I could ever be honest with myself. When I'm bouncing my grandson on my knee and telling him about when I played, he'll look at me and say, 'Grandad, you did some stupid things'. And I'll reply, 'Yes, I did. Let me tell you about them'.Swann first toured with England to South Africa in 1999-2000 but, by his own admission, he was a cheeky upstart and not good enough for international cricket.The following years brought frustration and misery and, famously, former Northamptonshire director of cricket Kepler Wessels banning his team-mates from laughing at his jokes. It was not until he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005 that his career began to perk up."I feel I've been true to my character and I've been very lucky. I play up to the joker tag, I've cultivated it over the years. It's the perfect release of pressure," the England cricketer says."My wife Sara tells me, 'God, you're just like my dad. You say the same jokes over and over'."I won't change. I'm going to be one of those embarrassing dads when our little lad Wilf brings home a girl - and keep telling the same jokes. I like people who are willing to laugh at themselves. I guess it comes from my upbringing, although my brother Alec is the exact opposite," says Swann.
