Paul Collingwood: England players were "sitting ducks" in Australia

Collingwood accepted that performances were far from perfect, but he issued a strong warning about the expectations placed on players to keep on touring under extreme restrictions

Paul Collingwood says England's players were "sitting ducks" during their ill-fated Ashes tour, with the assistant coach airing concerns about cricketers' mental health if the constant grind of bubble touring continues.

England's Test team received considerable criticism for their 4-0 series defeat in Australia, during which deficiencies with the bat and in the field were regularly highlighted, in addition to selection and tactical mistakes.

Collingwood, who is the acting head coach of the T20 side which is currently touring the Caribbean, accepted that performances were far from perfect, but he issued a strong warning about the expectations placed on players to keep on touring under extreme restrictions.

He said: "The fact we actually turned up and agreed a five-match Ashes series, the guys should be given medals for that.

^{Paul Collingwood says England's Ashes players deserve medals for fulfilling the five-match tour (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)}

"It would've been much better if we’d done two matches and then three next year. That would've been a great compromise. But, no, Australia were not bothered that they were going to receive an England team who were mentally fatigued, they just wanted to get the product out there. They just wanted the Ashes. We were sitting ducks.”

England's red and white-ball players have been the very busiest on the global circuit during the pandemic, both on home soil and overseas.

Collingwood understands why there has been a need for major series to continue - namely to ensure English cricket's ecosystem was protected as much as possible - but he feels those who are bearing the brunt of the workload, and the effect bubble life and routine periods of isolation can have, deserve more sympathy.

“Hopefully bubbles are starting to move out of cricket now and I just hope the administrators and governing bodies don't keep pressing for them trying to protect matches because we also have to protect the mental health of the players and management," he said, pointing out the recent flurry of international retirements and players opting to take time out from the game to protect their mental health.

"What I have seen over the last two years is that we've kept the show on the road, and it was important to keep the show on the road to preserve people’s jobs - whether it be media, players or administrators. We saved a lot of jobs doing that. The Ashes was one step too far.

“Take someone like Chris Woakes. The most loveable and down-to-earth guy. I have seen him in some serious mental states. We have seen Ben Stokes, someone we consider to be the most mentally tough cricketer in the world, been hit by this.

^{England lost 4-0 in the Ashes series (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)}

"I just hope there are no ramifications moving forward because when they come, they won't be obvious next week or the week after. These are things that might come out down the line. That's what scares me.”

England's Test players are due to return to action in the West Indies in March, with three matches on Antigua, Barbados and Grenada, before the IPL window kicks in through April and May.

The international summer begins in early June and continues through until mid-October, though restrictions in the UK are not expected to be significant and should allow the players to return to a routine close to normality. 

A seven T20I trip to Pakistan precedes the World Cup in Australia in October and November, before Test matches in Pakistan follow prior to Christmas. Further games in Bangladesh and South Africa are due to follow in early 2023. 

Collingwood is far from the first prominent cricketing figure to question the sustainability of bubble touring.

The Irish batsman Paul Stirling said recently that he "100 per cent" expects players to regularly pull out of trips to protect their own physical and mental wellbeing.

He compared the experience of being shunted from tour to tour and quarantine to quarantine to that of a piece on a chessboard.

"I think the restrictions are now no longer as much to do with our health and safety as they are to do with making sure that competitions go ahead and financial reasons for companies, organisations, franchises and making it work from that point of view," he said.

"When that starts happening and that transition is so apparent, and you feel as a player that you're just being manoeuvred on a chessboard, that's I think when people are going to be pulling out, fairly swiftly. That's probably not far away, or else rules will be broken as you go."