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very under-rated player and a worthy member of the England side

Very overrated player who never plays for his county and has had more dire performances than any other player. Sorry he is so overrated its a crime.

Probably one of the most likeable English cricketers there's been in recent times. Dependable, his innings against Australia in the first Ashes test was probably the most important English performance of the series. His fielding is second to none and his bowling is surprisingly effective

"The umpires said 'are you upholding the appeal?'. In hindsight maybe I made the wrong decision," Collingwood said.

"I had to make a split-second decision and probably made the wrong one so my apologies go out to New Zealand."
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'probably made the wrong one?' Why probably? Couldn't he just admit that he made a serious error? Maybe he was sorry his team couldn't win even after cheating!

john..12:11 - you look abit silly now colly is currently on 82 not out in south africa, or is that innings over-rated?

hmmm even sillier now he's got a match winning century

john, Collingwood has just made a match winning 105 not out to become England's 2nd highest ODI run scorer. He also happens to have taken 99 ODI wickets, including the best figures in England's ODI history. Overrated?

If Flintoff starts playing again, and Broad and Swann come back, we could have the makings of a great ODI side:

Strauss
Trott
Pietersen
Collingwood
Morgan
Prior
Flintoff
Wright
Broad
Swann
Anderson

Top class batting line-up going all the way down to number 10! 3 top class pace bowlers, with two other good all-rounders and a tight spinner! Just replace Strauss with Denly for the 20/20's.

"...the distant age of "bits-and-pieces" all-rounders..."

What about Wright, Bresnan and Rashid?

He may not be everybody's favourite cup of tea but Colly does give 110% effort in every game he plays for England and Durham and you can't fault him for that - very pleased that he had put in a terrific Man of the Match performance today.

Not bits and pieces all-rounders, world beaters! Collingwood, Trott, Wright, Rashid... with Broad and Swann to come... add Prior and you've got seven. Pity about Rashid's bowling though...
nealcollins.co.uk

It is good to see some new players getting a reasonable run in the side - Trott, Morgan, Wright, Bresnan, Rashid. So far the first two look very comfortable; Bresnan seems to be finding a niche, while Rashid looks out of his depth and needs more time. Wright also seems to have settled down, and perhaps the emergence of Morgan has taken the spotlight away from him, to his benefit. Mahmood simply looks too expensove at this level, and doesn't look likely to compete for a place once Broad and Flintoff become available. What is especially satisfying is to see the team less reliant on Pietersen - interesting to see how he handles this (a bag-ful of runs, I hope). Important to remember he is recovering from a nasty injury and may need some months to get back near his best.

Good on ya Colly,you single handidly gave the South Africans a good going over in their own back yard,

When Paul Collingwood is bad, he is terrible. When good, he is excellent.

At present, 'Chameleon Collie' is experiencing an excellent phase for England. How long this period will last, who knows, but what is certain, the Durham all-rounder will lose confidence and go through another 'in the doldrums' patch. The English selectors must be more ruthless next time and send him back to country cricket far quicker, to help him rediscover his confidence once more.

There cannot be many English players who have experienced more ups and downs than zebedee. Great to see you on the up Collie. You were superb today.

2. 'overrated' player? you must be joking?! Every time a commentator praises a good performance by colly it is followed with 'despite his limited ability' or something similar. Sure his batting isnt pretty to watch at times but his average is better than Vaughan, Hussain, Trescothick etc and he remains one of the worlds best fielders. He is a brilliant example to all and works harder at his game than any of the other England players. Well done today colly keep defying all of those critics!!

Congrats, England! It was a convincing win!

As for Mahmood, (oh, please) the selectors have flatuated the joint, big time! This dude is not international caliber, by any measure, except what they (the selectors) think!

"Blessed with neither the physical attributes..." ? He's a handsome chap!

Good going, Colly and England.

Collingwood is one of my favourite players. The guy has bottle, something we haven't seen much of in many England players. If Ian Bell had half of Collie's mental strength, Bell would be averaging mid 50's for England.

Much is made of his peaks and troughs. One thing that is very easy to overlook is the amount of cricket he has played. How many England players play in all three formats? Go further from there: how many England players play in all three formats as regularly as he does? Add in the points in his career when he has been captain and it's easy to see that he doesn't shirk responsibility. It's been pretty obvious that he has played for England at times when he is mentally exhausted. Seeing Michael Hussey over the last 18 months has been similar and he is another like Collingwood who played all three formats of the game and wore himself out. I don't think Collie's technique is that bad. He's very much a player who relies on his eye rather than an impeccable technique, and the flaws creep in when mental fatigue affect that hand-eye co-ordination.

I don't think Bell will be ahead of Collingwood in the Test series. Cook's injury gives us a chance to see Trott up the top of the order, and I suspect his showing today and throughout the tour so far means he will bat at 3. Pietersen will slot in at 4, leaving Collie and Prior to form what I think is a very useful duo at 5 and 6.

Whenever I hear people questioning Colly, I always think - who would do best for England in a crisis?
I was in Napier, New Zealand, for the third Test in March 2008 when a number of England batsmen had reason to be concerned for their places. On the first morning, Vaughan, Strauss and Cook all fell cheaply to leave England 4-3, and Bell fell soon after at 36-4.
KP got the headlines that day for hitting 129 (when he wasn't feeling well either), but Colly came in at 36-4 to join him, and he scored the most gritty, invaluable 30 (off 82 balls) I've ever seen. (This was the same match where Strauss saved his career with 177 in the second innings)
Who (of the current England batsmen) would you want at the crease if you're four or five down and really under the cosh? I'd take Colly every time.

Thank you South Africa! The English Team, all of course South African, show up the very inadequacies, that the English hide from.This is a pointless series of S.A.against S.A .Can some one explain the point of this exercise?

I know the statistics say Collingwood has been a fair performer but I'm sorry but I do not rate him. He has had moments of greatness but has too often been through some dreadful form slumps. In other countries he wouldnt have got away with it for so long. Collingwood reminds me of my old broken clock.........twice a day it gets the time right!!

TeaTimeAtHarrods. Can you explain the point of your post?

As for Mahmood, (oh, please) the selectors have flatuated the joint, big time! This dude is not international caliber, by any measure, except what they (the selectors) think!
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I don't think he's inernational class either but to be fair to the selectors they had to try. England desperately needs a fast bowling option and he was the best available at the time so ti was worth giving him a run out.

No Oliver im not the same John.

Maybe I am being a little harsh. He has played some great innings for England and maybe my judgement of MR C is tarnished by my long held opinion that he is an underacheiver. (ive been using the clock gag for years)!! For instance - I was at Adelaide when he made 206 (A truly fantastic knock) but all that lives in the memory is day 5. In the same series at Brisbane he wandered aimlessly down the pitch and gave it away much to my disgust!! I may have conveniently forgot he had 96 at the time!

If my county cricket hero S.G Law had been dismissed the same way I
would have forgotton the dismissel by the time the bails came off!!

I hope Mr Collingwood continues to make my opinions look hollow.

I can't see how anyone can point to Collingwood being an underachiever. The limitations of his technique are bolstered by strength of mind. His fielding is still second to none in England colours. The surprise has been his bowling in recent times. There was a period where he seemed reluctant to bowl and had a few injury issues lurking over him. Now he's close to being a legitimate first change option in ODI cricket.

I find Collingwood a fantastic player. No, indeed, not because he is the most fluent batsman, or the most intimidating bowler. And not even because of his awesome fielding.
He is not (or at least doesn't appear to be) the most naturally talented cricketer. But he manages to perform in one of the three disciplines most of the times. It doesn't tend to happen too often in one and the same match (yesterday being an obvious exception to prove the rule). I've lost track of the number of times he's dug in with the bat to save England's innings, or taken a crucial catch to force a breakthrough. If England is in trouble in a match or in a series, there simply isn't another player I would rather have in my team. (and that goes for all formats!)

You've been sterling so far, Colly! Keep it up!

Well done Colly. Without a doubt one of the most underrated players to have played for England. A good record in all formats and fully deserving of his place in both the Test and ODI sides.



As for the Test side, Colly will bat at five. Bell only gets in unless we go for six batters, although he could of course open in place of Cook.

One thing with Collingwood is that his success didn't coincide with England being anywhere at their strongest in the batting department. I consider the England side that went to South Africa in 2004-05 to be our best batting side as you had several players close to their peak. Strauss, Trescothick, Vaughan, and Flintoff were all performing at a high level in that top six, and Thorpe continued to demonstrate his class.

Now compare that line up to some of the sides Collingwood has played in post-2005 Ashes. Strauss went through a colossal drop in form. Trescothick left international cricket. Thorpe retired before the Ashes. Vaughan suffered many injuries and never fully reached the level he had been at. Flintoff has injuries and a downturn in runs. Bell and Cook have been inconsistent. It's not just batting. The loss of senior players such as Giles affected the side. The change from Fletcher to Moores to Flower affected the side. A stream of captaincy changes affected the side. The one real constant in all of these changes has been Collingwood in the team. I have a feeling he's been the guy to accept a lot of leadership responsibility at a times when leaders, be they captains or coaches, have been at loggerheads with others connected with England. Collingwood's success has come over a time when England haven't been a strong unit on the pitch or in the dressing room. Most people accept that it's easier to come into a winning side and be successful. To be successful in a side beset by injuries and internal politics is even more impressive.

what we need is Harmison's natural ability with Collingwood's mental strength and we would have the ultimate player - Stepaul Harmingwood!

34 Martin

I do not think this Collingwood / Harmison hybrid would work I'm afraid. The Wear Tyne mix is even more incompatable then oil and water. ;-)

Unless GBH were to repent the darkside and start following Premiership football.

Colly a great one day player and has got us out of some scrapes in the tests as well. Check his stats on cric info and you will see how often he makes runs when the chips are down in losing cuases, then check Bells stats...

That said if we play five batsmen (the preference I would think) you can't fit Colly in with KP and Trott, so we need a number three. Options Bell and drop one of the others or promote one of them. It seems like batting at three and opening is giving Trott an edge here, Tests are different to the shorter versions of the game. It might be harsh on Trott for his second test and not sure how much he has opened or batted at three for his county, but with his relaxed nature (comes accross that way) I think he is in with making a decent go of it.

I two saw Collys 96 at the Gabba and have a photo of his six with the ball just coming off the bat, I also took one when he attempted the trick again and was stumped, ball about to enter Gillys gloves on the second photo. Colly and I were both suckered in by Warne.

Paul Collingwood is a bit of an idol of mine .I ve followed virtually every appearance and agree with much said about him here .Hes a bit antsy with the new ball and he has a very gettable wicket early on in his innings.Also hes no captain ; more a trusted lieutenant .He reads the game well but he is better at advising than ordering.
It seems to me he annoys the hell out of the naturally talented quality sides because they can see all these flaws but cant consistently exploit em.Shane Warne ,God bless him,still hasnt quite got over it !

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