HUW TURBERVILL: Every cricket fan is sad to see him go at 42. He has had a relatively lean season, after making 1,000 runs last summer, but his 47 in the win over Sussex this week gave me hope he might continue to defy time
Paul Collingwood is retiring from cricket
Paul Collingwood will be recalled as one of England’s most redoubtable cricketers, a man who squeezed every ounce of talent from his body.
That is not to damn him with faint praise, however. Anybody who scores an Ashes double-century against Australia at Adelaide (2006/07), facing Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, can play.
Every cricket fan is sad to see him go at 42. He has had a relatively lean season, after making 1,000 runs last summer, but his 47 in the win over Sussex this week gave me hope he might continue to defy time.
He will slip effortlessly into coaching, whether at Durham, Scotland, England (he has already be on the roster with both of those international sides) or beyond.
Collingwood was a stalwart in the England team
He has been an absolute custodian and stalwart of Durham cricket. There was no chance of him jumping ship when they were forcibly relegated for financial reasons in 2016, only three years after he had led them to the title and two after they won the Royal London One-Day Cup. The always-honest Collingwood termed it "a kick in the nuts".
No doubt he will remain in the north east. He lives and breathes sport in the area, playing his testimonial cricket match in the colours of his beloved AFC Sunderland.
It was those international displays that will remain foremost in our minds, though, winning 68 Test caps (10 centuries), played in 197 ODIs (five) and 36 T20Is.
He became the only England captain (to date) to lift a major limited-overs trophy (the 2009 World T20). He led that stylish team in a befitting manner, and scored the winning runs in the final. David Cameron congratulated ‘Colin Wood’ for the win, but that is another story…
The allrounder is a club legend at Durham
He was also a three-time Ashes winner (2005, 2009, 2010/11 – he retired at the end of the latter).
He was fine fielder and a real presence in the field. He took Warne on with conviction, never backing down verbally against the intimidating Australian. Warne mocked him for being given an MBE for his cameo in the 2005 Ashes (he came in for the final Test at The Oval for the injured Simon Jones), but there was mutual respect there.
Steve Waugh identified him as somebody to watch early on, in fact, in 2001, despite an incredibly modest baptism in the international game against Australia in a one-sided one-day series.
At one stage it looked as if he would not play very much. He seemed to be England’s perpetual bridesmaid. They liked having him around, and Duncan Fletcher was a huge fan, but he could not displace Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher and Graham Thorpe for obvious reasons.
I can testify that he was an excellent tourist. He bided his time, though, and the caps came.
Collingwood and David Cameron at a Downing Street event to celebrate England's World T20 win
In ODIs he finished with 5,092 runs, a then England record, and he has still played the most games, 12 more than Morgan (who has now scored the most runs, 5,618).
He was a very handy bowler in one-day cricket, with a full array of cutters and slower balls, but it was his batting that was his main suit.
His concentration was excellent, and he was a very strong cutter.
It was such a shame England subsided at Adelaide, because he played brilliantly in the first innings for his 206, in tandem with Kevin Pietersen, who made 158. The far more gifted KP respected him, which cannot be said about all England players he played with.
That winter he also made successive centuries in the VB Series as England won, rather remarkably after their Ashes whitewash.
Vaughan returned as captain for that series and knew what we all came to realise – Collingwood is a good man to have around.
Posted by David Rimmer on 14/09/2018 at 19:03
IT was a sad day for Durham County Cricket Club and all its supporters that their most influential player in their first class history, Paul Collingwood, has decided to retire. It is a sensible decision and well-timed as he will want as little fuss as possible and also because he was struggling to score many meaningful runs after being such a force for many years. I do concede his 47 in the second innings in support of centurion Cameron Steel was vital in the win against Sussex this week. However he has struggled by his own high standards in first class cricket this year. I suspect Collingwood only played on after Durham lost so many other players to other counties in the last few years. It was a typically selfless act on their captain’s part and thi should not be forgotten by anybody. I have an allegiance to Durham though I acknowledge it is not nearly as strong as people who have lived there all their lives. During my three-year stay in the North East, I attended Durham matches in 1993 before becoming a Durham member in 1994 and 1995, seeing them open their new ground at Chester-le-Street with a County Championship match against Warwickshire in May 1995. I saw many local players come and go. Durham tried to establish themselves with older pros from other counties and young tyro from the North East. In the latter category, Simon Brown, who had previously played for Northamptonshire, proved a boon as a bowler with his stamina before injury curtailed an honourable career two or three years too early. He played one Test Match for England in 1996. Another local player who was on the staff for 10 years and who suffered many broken digits from tough batting wickets was local batsman Jimmy Daley. A fine stylist Daley played quite a few memorable knocks without ever realising his potential. His 70 odd (a high class 73 as Wisden described it] against the a dangerous seam attack of Andrew Caddick, the rapid Dutchman Adrian Van Troost , Nail Mallender and Graham Rose at a freezing Hartlepool in September 1993 is still remembered fondly by this writer. Daley’s strokeplay was sumptuous and made the cold bearable. It was a great pity his career did not kick on and it was partly Durham’s fault for signing someone like Kent’s Jonny Longley who was not better and thwarted Daley’s career. I have digressed partly to explain that Collingwood was fortunate not to have born two or three year earlier and not be part of the churn of young players some of whom were dealt a harsh hand. Durham still had the important overseas signing and the one of recently retired Australian player David Boon for three seasons from 1997 to 1999 was a great boon for the emerging Collingwood and other young players. Collingwood went from strength to strength and remains to date the only Durham player to have had a significant career with England as a batsman while at the county. For me the prime memories are his grit with the bat, his useful medium pacers and his flair as a fielder (in all formats). He scored 10 Test tons including a double one v Australia in 2006/07 (and he still ended up on the losing side!) but for me two innings will stand out. The one was his 70-odd against Australia that played a large part in saving the First Test v Australia in 2009. All or most of the publicity went to the 10th wicket pair of James Anderson and Monty Panesar who held out heroically at the end, but none of this would have been possible but for Collingwood’s long vigil. The other time was when he linked up with Ian Bell to save a Test in South Africa (2009/10). Collingwood, like Alastair Cook, honed his game and played within his limitations. His proudest moment was leading England when they won the World T20 in 2010. His leadership was shrewd. His fielding was outstanding and I still cannot forget a stunning slip catch at the start of the Second Test in the 2010/11 series in Australia. Collingwood’s departure nearly brings to an era to an end. Only Marcus Trescothick remains on the county circuit from those who played County Championship Cricket in the 20th Century when it was one division. Ian Bell played one game in 1999 as a 17-year old but Trescothick was the only regular player from that decade still likely to be playing in 2019 unless he makes a retirement announcement in the close season. We shall all miss Collingwood, but I am sure has much to give as a coach. He was a considerable cricketer who played such a strong part in Durham’s Championship successes and their first one-day trophy in 2007.
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