Paul Collingwood

Paul David Collingwood MBE (born 26 May 1976) is an English cricketer. He is a regular member of the England Test side and was captain of the One Day International team from 2007, resigning on Sunday 3 August 2008,[1] and he is also the current England Twenty20 captain. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club.[2][3][4] Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting combines natural strokeplay with great tenacity. He also bowls reliable medium pace. Described as a "natural athlete", he is also regarded as one of the finest fielders of his time;[2][5] he usually fields at backward point or in the slips, but in 2009, in the second test against the West Indies, Paul Collingwood substituted for an injured Matt Prior as wicket keeper, the first time he had done so in First Class cricket.

His first class debut was in 1995,[6] and he made his first appearance for England in One Day International cricket in 2001 and in Test cricket in 2003.[7][8] For two years he remained an occasional Test player, but after selection for the final Test of the 2005 Ashes, he secured a regular place. His 206 during the 2006–07 Ashes was the first double century by an England batsman in Australia for 78 years. A series of three consecutive match-winning performances by Collingwood at the end of the 2006–07 Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia brought him enthusiastic approval in the British media. His "allround [sic] display of incredible nerve and tenacity" helped to secure the trophy for England






England debut
Collingwood's form for Durham in 2001 earned him a call-up to the England One Day International (ODI) squad, selected for the NatWest Series against Pakistan and Australia that summer,[7] becoming the 162nd to play for England in One Day International (ODI) cricket.[31] He was not particularly successful on his ODI debut in June 2001, scoring only two runs and taking no wickets against Pakistan at Edgbaston,[32] and doing poorly (20 runs in four innings and no wickets) in the rest of the series.[33] Despite this, the selectors showed confidence in him by choosing him for the 2001–02 one-day tour of Zimbabwe, where he took his first ODI wicket, that of Dion Ebrahim in the Third ODI at Harare Sports Club.[34] He starred with the bat in the Fourth ODI at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, with a match-winning 77,[35] and made an unbeaten 56 in the final ODI, also in Bulawayo,[36] helping England secure a 5–0 whitewash.[37]

Collingwood played in all seven matches of the 2002 NatWest Series against India and Sri Lanka, ending on the losing side in the final to India.[38] Neither his batting nor bowling during this series were particularly impressive, averaging less than 24 with the bat and taking only five wickets in the series,[39] but he went on to make his first ODI century in the 2002/2003 VB Series victory against Sri Lanka at the WACA.[40] While this performance cemented his position in the England one–day setup, he dislocated his right shoulder while fielding in a pre–season county friendly against Lancashire and was forced to miss most of the 2003 season.[41] Nevertheless, he was awarded a 12-month ECB contract when the winter touring squads were announced for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. With Nasser Hussain suffering from a bout of 'flu,[42] Collingwood made his Test debut against the Sri Lankans in the First Test at Galle in December 2003,[8][10] becoming the 622nd Englishman to play Test cricket.[43] It was during this game that he established his position as one of the best English fielders, with five catches and a run-out in the drawn match.[8] Since then his performances in the field have drawn comparisons with South African specialist fielder, Jonty Rhodes.[2]

With the selection of pace bowler James Anderson for the Third Test, Collingwood was dropped.[44] Although unable to establish a regular place in the 11–man team, his all–round ability and fielding strengths made him a regular on England's overseas Test tours as 12th Man.[45]

He retained his place in England's one-day side throughout the summer of 2004 despite a knee injury, and scored an unbeaten 79 in the second match of the NatWest Challenge against India at The Oval, with England winning the series 2–1.[46] Collingwood was also England's second highest run-scorer in the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, scoring 141 runs at an average of 70.5,[47] which included an unbeaten 80 in the opening game against Zimbabwe.[48] He played in all 11 ODIs against Zimbabwe and South Africa,[49][50] and was then named in the England Development Squad in May 2005,[51] and the 14-man squad for the NatWest Series against Bangladesh and Australia and the NatWest International Twenty20 against Australia that summer



ashes 2005


On 21 June 2005, playing for England against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge, Collingwood scored 112 not out from 86 balls and then took six wickets for 31 runs.[53] These were the best–ever bowling figures by an Englishman in an ODI,[54] and made Collingwood the first player to score a century and take six wickets in an ODI.[55] This performance surpassed the previous best all–round ODI performance, that of Viv Richards, who scored a hundred and took five wickets against New Zealand in Dunedin in the 1986/1987 season.[56] Another highlight that was produced that same series was a stunning mid-air catch off the bowling of Steve Harmison to dismiss Matthew Hayden during the Natwest Series ODI at Bristol.[57] This catch has subsequently been included by Canada's The Score television network as a part of their "Score 64" greatest-highlight contest. Pitted against Tiger Woods' chip at the Canadian Open in the first round, the catch squeezed out a slim victory.[58]

Collingwood also played in England's inaugural Twenty20 International match, held at the Rose Bowl, where a useful contribution of 49 and the wickets of Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie helped jump-start England on its pursuit of the Ashes, with 100-run defeat of Australia.[59]

Collingwood was selected for the Test squad at the outset of the series but was not called into action until bowler Simon Jones was ruled out due to injury during the Fourth Test at Trent Bridge.[60] Collingwood therefore played only the Fifth Test. Although he only scored 7 and 10 with the bat that match, his "blocking" alongside Kevin Pietersen in a 60-run sixth wicket stand on the final day helped England draw the match, and clinch the series to take the Ashes for the first time since 1987.[61] In the 2006 New Year's Honours List, Collingwood was awarded the MBE,[62] together with other members of the England team, for his role in the successful Ashes victory. There was some critical comment that his limited role did not warrant the honour as he had played only in the Fifth Test and scored just 17 runs in 2 innings



Success in Pakistan and India
Following the successful Ashes campaign in 2005, Collingwood was selected to tour with England to Pakistan and India in 2005–06. He played in the First Test in against Pakistan in Multan in 2005, but scored only 13 runs in his two innings and took no wickets.[63] He was dropped for the Second Test as Michael Vaughan returned,[64] but came back into the team for the Third Test against Pakistan when the top–order was reshuffled after Andrew Strauss returned to England for the birth of his first child.[65] Despite Collingwood making his maiden Test 50 and following it with another in the second innings,[66] England lost the match and consequently the three-match series 2–0.[67] In the ODI series, he and Durham teammates Liam Plunkett and Steve Harmison accounted for the majority of the wickets taken by England, through a combination of their bowling and fielding.[68]

Following his performance in Pakistan, Collingwood was called into the England team for the First Test against India in March 2006 after injury and illness respectively to Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick.[69] Collingwood justified his position in the team with a magnificent 134 not out in the first innings on 2 March 2006, his first Test century.[70] Collingwood thus became the first Durham player to make a Test century for England.[71] Following this innings, The Times, which had been among the critics of Collingwood's MBE, ran the headline MBE? Give this man a knighthood!