Swann's cat alibi ridiculed by team-mates

Graeme Swann's claim that he was on his way to buy a set of screwdrivers to rescue his trapped cat has been treated with ridicule on his return to the England squad, after he missed training on Monday to answer a charge of drink-driving at a court hearing in Nottingham.

Swann was stopped near his home in West Bridgford shortly after 3:00am on April 2 as he drove a white Porsche Cayenne towards a local supermarket, having arrived home to find his cat trapped under the floorboards.

But, in a post on his Twitter feed, Swann's team-mate Kevin Pietersen laughed at the alibi provided by the "cat rescuer".

"2 hours with @Swannyg66 [Swann's username] this am and I'm still not having this 'cat' story!! haha," wrote Pietersen, to which Swann replied: "Such a shame my teammates are so remedial in their 'banter'. Must be because they're all south African... Yes you kelvin [sic]."

Andrew Strauss, England's captain, provided a more diplomatic take on the situation. "We always pull his leg, because if you don't he'll be pulling yours," he told reporters at The Oval on the eve of the fourth Test.

"It's clearly a slight distraction for him because he'd rather be practising two days out from a Test match, but don't want to comment on the situation because it is going through the motions, and as far as we're concerned he's not guilty of anything. We'll wait for the court case to finish."

The arresting officer. PC Steven Denniss, told the court that he stopped Swann shortly after 3:00am because he was driving a high-performance car in an area hit by a spate of burglaries.

"Mr. Swann stated he had been out that evening and had come back to find his cat trapped under the floorboards in his house. He had gone to ASDA to fetch some screwdrivers to remove some floorboards," the officer said.

"His speech was slightly slurred but he was compliant. He was slightly upset due to the fact of his cat and what had just happened."

Denniss said Swann then admitted that he "shouldn't have probably been driving". Swann had 83 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit for drivers in Britain is 80mg.

Swann denies one charge of drink driving. The trial continues.