England’s traditional sport – cricket has a plethora of legends who took the game to new heights. Some of them had led their country phenomenally across all the formats but they are yet to beat Paul Collingwood.
The only man who captained England to a global trophy in 2010, has finally hung up his boots after playing the last County game for Durham CCC on Thursday. Unfortunately, his team lost the game to Middlesex, but the 42-year-old former English skipper left the turf with a bag full of memories to cheer.
‘You may keep a sportsperson away from the sport but you cannot keep the sport away from a sportsperson.” Following the same saying, Collingwood will accompany the English Test team in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. According to media reports, he is scheduled to be a part of Trevor Bayliss’ backroom staff for the three-Test series which begins on November 6.
Moreover, Bayliss’s coaching contract with the English side will expire after next summer’s Ashes. Hence, in that case, Collinwood could be an eligible contender for the post. In fact, the latter himself expressed that this is something he would love to do.
“Any job that has the Three Lions involved, you are going to be interested in it. I have spent a big part of my career playing for England and I know how much it means to the country,” said the retiring all-rounder in an interview.
“I have gained quite a lot of coaching experience over the last five winters with England, Scotland and UAE. I’ve had a big crash course in terms of assisting head coaches. I’m not saying I deserve to walk into a head coach’s role. But certainly, if they came in and asked me if I would do it, I’m not going to say no,” he added.
After having played his final match for Durham, Collingwood took to his official Instagram account to express himself. He termed his 22-year stint with Durham ‘the best journey’ of his cricketing career.
Apart from leading England to their maiden World Cup Trophy, Collingwood also holds the record of being the oldest player to slam a century in T20 cricket. He reached the feat on July 30, 2017, during a NatWest T20 Blast match against Worcestershire. He smashed 10 fours and 4 sixes and ended up scoring 108 runs off 60 balls and remained unbeaten.