Paul David Collingwood (born 26 May 1976) is an English cricket coach and former player, who played in all three formats of the game internationally for England. He played for Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood was a regular member of the England Test side and captain of the One Day International (ODI) team (2007–2008). He was the first T20I captain for England. As captain, he led the England team to win their first ICC trophy, the 2010 World Twenty20, and scored the winning run in the final.
He captained his county club, Durham County Cricket Club, for the final six seasons of his career. A batting all-rounder, whose batting combined natural strokeplay with great tenacity, Collingwood also bowled reliable medium pace. Described as a "natural athlete", he was regarded as one of the finest fielders of his time, usually fielding at backward point or at third or fourth slip in Tests; he also deputised as wicket-keeper for England.
His first-class debut was in 1996 and he made his first appearance for England in One Day International cricket in 2001 and made his Test match debut in 2003. 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 and in a match that England lost. 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 display of incredible nerve and tenacity" helped to secure the trophy for England. Until May 2019, he was England's most capped ODI cricketer and was, until surpassed by Ian Bell in 2015, the leading ODI run scorer., Cricinfo Statsguru. Retrieved 25 June 2010., Cricinfo Statsguru, Retrieved on 25 June 2010.
He announced his retirement from Test cricket in January 2011, during the fifth Test of the 2010–11 Ashes series. He finished on a high, becoming a three-times Ashes winner as England won a series in Australia for the first time in 24 years, with three innings victories contributing to a 3–1 win. He retired from first-class and List A cricket in September 2018.
Having retired from playing, Collingwood moved into coaching. He was part of the coaching team for Scotland and for Durham CCC, before joining the staff of the England Cricket Team in 2014 as a limited-overs specialist and fielding coach. In February 2022, he was named interim head coach of the men's England cricket team.
Early and personal life Collingwood was born and brought up in Shotley Bridge, near Consett, County Durham, by parents David and Janet, along with his elder brother Peter, and was educated at Blackfyne Comprehensive School, now known as Consett Academy. Introduced to cricket "on the playing fields of Blackfyne Comprehensive School", Paul was able to "force his way into Shotley Bridge's Under–13s team at the age of just nine".
As a teenager, his father, who still remains a member of the Shotley Bridge Cricket Club, persuaded him to give up football and concentrate on cricket. Collingwood still makes regular visits to his old cricket club: "...he is a brilliant role model for the kids and his success is an inspiration to follow...".
He currently lives in Northumberland, divorced from former wife Vicky, whom he married in February 2005 in Cape Town, South Africa, and their three daughters Shannon (born September 2006), Keira (born 24 February 2008), and Hannah Mae (born 9 February 2011). He is a big fan of Sunderland AFC. His nicknames are 'Colly', 'Weed' ‘Brigadier Block’ and 'Shep'; Brigadier Block being a nickname given to him by Nasser Hussain for his ability to play defensive shots, and the latter is an apparent homage to the famous Blue Peter Collie dog, Shep.
Domestic career
County cricket Paul Collingwood signed for Durham, his local county cricket side, in 1995, playing first in List A one-day cricket. When he first came to Durham's attention, Collingwood was regarded "as a bowler who batted a bit". According to coach Geoff Cook's 2006 assessment it was Collingwood's determination, rather than his talent, that shone through.
Collingwood made his first–class debut against Northamptonshire in 1996, at Durham's Riverside Ground. He made an immediate impression by taking the wicket of former England all-rounder David Capel with his first ball, and scoring 91 in his first innings. However, his early years as a first-class player were characterised by steady and relatively modest performances with bat and ball: in each season from 1996 to 2000, his batting average was between 20 and 30 and his bowling average was between 30 and 60.
His breakthrough began in 2000, when he was voted Player of the Year by the Durham members, particularly for his one-day efforts. His form varied following a back injury, but he hit his stride in 2001, when he excelled both in the County Championship and in the one-day game. In the six English seasons from 2001, Collingwood has exceeded a batting average of 40 four times and achieved a bowling average of less than 40 on three occasions.
In order to improve his all-round game, Collingwood travelled to Australia for the 2000–01 season, where he played for the Richmond Cricket Club in the Melbourne Premier League. At the end of the season, he was awarded the Jack Ryder Medal as the best player in the league, which he shared with another player. He remains the first and, to date, only Richmond player to have received the award.
Durham only achieved first-class status in 1992. In the 15 years since then, their best performances in the two league championships (the first-class County Championship and the List-A (One-Day) National League) both came in 2006 (finishing sixth and eighth respectively). Following in 2007 with the Friends Provident Trophy, beating Hampshire by 125 runs, Collingwood picking up 22 runs and bowling figures of 3/33. However, Collingwood's involvement was severely limited by his England commitments and he made no appearances at all in either competition.
This stood in marked contrast to the previous season, when Collingwood was available to Durham for four of the five Tests, before his England recall for the final Ashes Test; he "pushed his claims for a Test recall with three centuries in four innings in the Frizzell County Championship." In just 13 appearances in the County Championship in that 2005 season, Collingwood scored 1103 runs and took 21 wickets, averaging 55.15 and 31.90 respectively.
In the traditional reward for services to a county, Durham awarded Collingwood a benefit year for 2007. He chose to support two charities through his benefit, Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Cricket Foundation's "Chance to Shine" project, which encourages cricket coaching in state schools. In that same year, two days after achieving his fifth Test century at Riverside in an England victory, he joined Liam Plunkett in helping the county enter its first Friends Provident Trophy final, which they would also go on to win.
Indian Premier League With England players free to participate in the second season of the Indian Premier League, Collingwood was signed by the Delhi Daredevils for $275,000 during their second player auction."Delhi snap up Collingwood for $275,000 ", 6 February 2009, ESPNcricinfo Blogs – Breaking News. Retrieved on 6 February 2009. In the 2011 auction, he was signed up by Rajasthan Royals for US$250,000,Andrew McGlashan (10 January 2011). "International fixtures thwart IPL ambition for England stars". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 December 2014. but could not take part in IPL4 due to a knee injury that he picked up during the World Cup.Tariq Engineer (6 April 2011). "Oram takes injured Collingwood's IPL place". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
International career
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, becoming the 162nd to play for England in ODI cricket. He was not particularly successful on his ODI debut in June 2001, scoring only two runs and taking no wickets against Pakistan at Edgbaston, and doing poorly (20 runs in four innings and no wickets) in the rest of the series. 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. He starred with the bat in the Fourth ODI at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, with a match-winning 77, and made an unbeaten 56 in the final ODI, also in Bulawayo, helping England secure a 5–0 whitewash.
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. 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, but he went on to make his first ODI century in the 2002/2003 VB Series victory against Sri Lanka at the WACA. 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. 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, Collingwood made his Test debut against the Sri Lankans in the First Test at Galle in December 2003, becoming the 622nd Englishman to play Test cricket. 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. Since then his performances in the field have drawn comparisons with South African specialist fielder, Jonty Rhodes.
With the selection of pace bowler James Anderson for the Third Test, Collingwood was dropped. 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.
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. Collingwood was also England's second highest run-scorer in the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, scoring 141 runs at an average of 70.5, which included an unbeaten 80 in the opening game against Zimbabwe. He played in all 11 ODIs against Zimbabwe and South Africa, and was then named in the England Development Squad in May 2005, 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. These were the best–ever bowling figures by an Englishman in an ODI, and made Collingwood the first player to score a century and take six wickets in an ODI. 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. 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. This catch was included in BBC Sport's list of "Classic catches" in cricket.