"Never say never": Paul Collingwood open to full-time England head coach role

The former England batter was named interim head coach for the upcoming Test series against West Indies following Chris Silverwood's departure at the start of February

Paul Collingwood is open to taking the vacant England head coach role on a full-time basis.

The former England batter was named interim head coach earlier in February after Chris Silverwood was sacked following England’s 4-0 Ashes mauling.

He will be at the helm for England’s upcoming three-match Test series against West Indies in the Caribbean.

Collingwood, who recently deputised for Silverwood during England’s 3-2 T20I series defeat against the same opponents earlier in February, told Sky Sports he would "never say never" to the prospect of taking the reins on a permanent basis.

However, in the short-term, his focus is on beginning England’s rebuilding process with a strong performance against West Indies.

^{Collingwood was named interim head coaching following the departure of Chris Silverwood [Mike Owen/Getty Images]}

"I would never say never, but my main focus right now is these next four weeks," Collingwood said, speaking to Sky Sports. "If we can get that right, hopefully we can get performances out on the park and we can rebuild.

"It is an amazing job. To be coach and to try to help these guys get to where they need to be feels special as well.

"I have had a little bit of experience in the past couple of years of taking over on an interim basis, and obviously I have done the T20s recently.

"I haven't got the experience behind us. I haven't done county cricket or anything like that, but I have certainly got the passion to try to make a difference. I try to bring people closer together, build teams, build relationships."

Collingwood’s first match as interim head coach is scheduled to begin on March 8 in Antigua before the series moves to Barbados (March 16-20) and finally, Grenada (March 24-28).