Nick Butler: The first rule of sport

If the reason we like sport is because it is a snapshot of life, with all the emotion and stories of humanity but without the negativity of the real world, then the most important lesson therein is a refusal to quit and back down in the face of adversity.

This is best encapsulated by the legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi, whose remark that "it's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up" is relevant to all fields of life.

Last week's sudden retirement of England cricketer Graeme Swann midway through an Ashes Series in Australia has revived this debate.

For those who have not been following the Ashes, it is fair to say that they have not gone well for England so far. Despite having won the last three series and being comfortable favourites beforehand, they were blown away in the first four matches and now face the humiliation of a 5-0 defeat.

A bubbly character on and off the field of play, spin bowler Swann has been a key part of England's success in recent years but, like all his colleagues, he has endured a wretched series in the face of a rejuvenated Aussie backlash. Not only has he failed to take wickets but his uncanny knack of tying down batsmen and stemming the flow of runs for long periods has also eluded him.

His response, from an outsider's perspective at least, was to throw in the towel and announce his immediate retirement with two matches still remaining. He then rather ambiguously criticised "certain players as being up their own backsides" - comments he has since denied were aimed at England teammates.

Graeme Swann waves goodbye to his cricketing career after announcing his shock retirement last week ©Getty Images

Swann's retirement has been supported in many quarters. He was possibly going to be dropped anyway so why not jump before you are pushed, some say. Others question the point of carrying on when your ability has gone, and you no longer have the motivation to do anything about it.

Others have taken a less sympathetic view. To furtive nods of approval from family members, who were no doubt influenced by a hefty dose of Christmas-time war films, my uncle announced that in his opinion Swann should be subjected to "public execution for dereliction of duty in the face of the enemy".

A little harsh maybe, but not an altogether isolated opinion among the English cricketing fraternity.

It is not his retirement that has caused the contention, but the fact that he has done so midway through such an important series and that he has left his team in such dire straits as a result.

He has therefore broken two of the sport's most fundamental rules.

This attitude reminds me of my days as a goalkeeper for our rather talentless under 11 school football team. As a general rule losing by less than 10 goals was considered a good result but the key lesson was that we learnt how to lose and we never gave up when doing so. I still unsuccessfully argue to this day, for example, that a man-of-the-match award I received in one 14-1 defeat was not actually given out of sympathy but for the 14 additional goals I prevented.

Just about any film about sport encapsulates these dual themes - Cool Runnings or Chariots of Fire to take two Olympic themed ones - as do many of sport's greatest moments in years gone by.

Think Seb Coe at Moscow 1980, coming second in the 800 metres and then winning the 1,500m, Muhammad Ali "floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee" in the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974, and Andy Murray losing four Grand Slam tennis finals before eventually succeeding at the fifth attempt.

Starting with his Olympic gold medal at London 2012, Andy Murray has reaped the benefits of refusing to give up after defeat ©AFP/Getty Images

Best of all, think of sailor Sir Ben Ainslie, who achieved three of his four Olympic gold medals after mounting formidable recoveries before he formed part of Oracle Team USA's "greatest ever comeback" to win this year's America's Cup. Through his gentlemanly and humble, yet ruthlessly determined never-say-die persona, Sir Ben encapsulates this purpose of sport perfectly.

It was a boat sport which also provided the best recent example of an Olympic "quitter" in the form of Australian rower Sally Robbins. In the final 250m of the women's eight final at Athens 2004, with her crew still contesting for a medal in the biggest race of her life, Robbins inexplicably stopped rowing, and was castigated by teammates and media alike as a result.

Sydney's Daily Telegraph summed up this reaction when it wrote: "In a team sport such as rowing what she did was unforgivable. It appears Robbins committed the greatest crime there is in honest sport - she quit."

It was not that Robbins failed that people condemned. People can accept failure. What they could not accept is the fact that she did not even try and, like Swann, she let down her crew mates and country as a result.

In some cases "giving-up" is the only solution. This was shown also in Athens by the plight of Paula Radcliffe in the women's marathon. With 20 miles gone, the three medal positions disappearing ahead in the sweltering summer heat, and with injury getting worse with every step, the Briton eventually and belatedly came to a halt. But, unlike Swann and Robbins, she was directly harming herself long-term by continuing and she was not letting down a teammate.

Injury is one of the foremost reasons for which quitting, either in an one event or by ending a whole career, cannot be avoided. This extends also to mental problems, such as the depression-induced exit suffered by Graham Swann's England teammate Jonathan Trott earlier in the Ashes series, which was a different issue from Swann's and should not be criticised.

To give one final counter-example of an athlete who has fought back resolutely to overcome adversity, you need only look at football goalkeeper Joe Hart.

After a string of errors for club and country, Hart was dropped by Manchester City in favour of Romanian deputy Costel Pantilimon. He accepted the decision, went away, worked hard, and has now recovered his place with two impressive Christmas performances.

Bloodied but not beaten...Joe Hart has fought back to claim his place after being dropped ©Getty Images

To return to the case of Swann, he was certainly struggling mentally, and there were also signs that his troublesome elbow was close to finally giving up after years of injury struggle.

Both must have contributed to his exit.

But, because these reasons have not been directly given, they do not exempt him from the fact that he effectively jumped from a sinking ship. If he was not prepared to see out the series he should not have been there in the first place. There was also this important difference in the sense that he was a member of a team so his decision affected others beyond merely himself - and this should not be underplayed.

The verdict of my uncle and others was overly damning, and Swann's significant contribution to English cricket over recent years should not be forgotten.

However, in not taking Lombardi's advice and not "getting up" after being "knocked down" he has lacked the resilience of Coe, Ali, Murray, Sir Ben and Hart, and anyone else who seeks membership of an elusive club of sporting greats.

As we look ahead to the New Year, with the Winter Olympics in Sochi looming on the horizon, we look to sport to bring us more stories of courage, determination, success and failure. We hope not to see many more cases of quitting.

Nick Butler is a reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here