Jump to content

Journeyman Collingwood's last chance?

The Outsider

By The Outsider
in Cricket Talk

Recommended Posts

The Outsider Newbie

The Outsider

Posted
Posted

Test cricket tends to separate the wheat from the chaff sooner of later and after a decent show over the last couple of seasons, this journeyman's journey seems to be coming to an end. Still for a man of his limited batting talent he had a half decent test career. I don't see him lasting beyond the summer - if NZ don't put an end to him at Trent Bridge then its only a matter of time before Steyn and Ntini will send him to the confines of county cricket for him to take out his international pyjamas when colored ones are required. http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/engvnz/content/story/353499.html

Paul Collingwood is confident that a few days away from the spotlight will help him regain his form in the final Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. Instead of playing for Durham against Sussex in the County Championship, he opted for some rest and a couple of intensive one-on-one sessions with Andy Flower, the England batting coach. Collingwood has struggled in the early part of the season, both for county and country. He has 32 runs in three innings in the current series, and 24 of those came in a scratchy effort that helped England across the line at Old Trafford. He hasn't made a century for almost a year, when he reached three figures at Chester-le-Street, his home ground, against West Indies. There was the opportunity for him to get some middle time in the Championship between Tests, but Collingwood believes his decision to step back for a few days will pay dividends. "There was a choice to make, but in international cricket there is never much time to work on things technically," he told the Press Association. "This was an opportunity after two back-to-back Test matches to go away, have a look at it from the outside rather than going straight back into cricket and seeing what I really needed. "At the time it was decided the best thing for me was to work on my game. Andy [Flower] came up to Durham for a couple of days and we had two very good sessions and worked a bit technically but spoke about the game more than anything else - sometimes that works better than anything else." Collingwood can draw on memories of when he hauled himself out of his previous England slump, on the 2006-07 tour of Australia. Following his double century in Adelaide he suffered a lean end to the Test series and then made 83 runs in his first six innings of the CB Series. However, he bounced back with two match-winning centuries and a 70 in the next three innings. His turnaround in Australia came from something as simple as changing his bat grip. "There have been plenty of other times in my career I've been in bad nick," he said. "The last time I came out of a run like this all I did was change my grip to pink and that was pretty much it - I might even change it this week as well to see what happens." Collingwood is playing with a long-standing shoulder injury after having an injection before the series. He only bowled one over at Old Trafford, but could be needed for more at Trent Bridge in conditions that usually favour swing bowling.
Link to comment
The Outsider Newbie

The Outsider

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Robert Key and Owais Shah are two batsmen who come to mind - none of whom I rate very highly though. Ramprakash and Sales could be surprise selections - both doing well in the county season. But, what about Ed Joyce? Really like him from what I've seen of him - debuted in the wrong format of the game, IMO. I think he is one England should look forward to as a long term selection.

Link to comment
matma Newbie

matma

Posted
Posted

Collingwood is an amazing test cricketer and ODI player. The selectors have faith he will come back. The next player in my mind is Owais Shah....maybe, just maybe Key. Ramprakash's international career is over. He's had more chances than anyone, and still cant live up to expectations.

Link to comment
f.b.m Newbie

f.b.m

Posted
Posted

He's one of quite a few players in the famed "top 6" who's simply overrated by the english media. Bell is another one. And somehow the stupid media expects England to win the ashes with THIS team. With players that are in the side because there's no one better than them.

Link to comment
Fontaine Newbie

Fontaine

Posted
Posted
collingwood will come good.he is a class act.
I don't know if he's a class act but I agree with the rest. Colly was easily their most consistent batsman a year and half ago. Not only does he bowl decently for a medium pacer but is England's best fielder. He'll be back.
Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...