This sounds really harsh to say on the back of only the first defeat in nine matches in T20 for England, where Paul Collingwood has Captained them to being the best side in the World and the T20 World Cup, but does he really deserve his place in the side?
He no longer seems to bowl for England in this format, as Michael Yardy as the second “spinner” has taken over his role in the middle overs, and his batting has been poor for quite some time. So this leaves one of the awkward moments where the Captain isn’t really worth his place, especially with so many other specialist Batsmen in England with more ability and more capable of clearing the ropes.
It would be incredibly harsh on a servant of the England side such as Collingwood to drop him fairly quickly after he has retired from Test cricket to focus on the limited form of the game. However, the side is more important than just one man, and decisions such as this are often needed to maintain good form and ensure success is continued with a team that has no weak links.
At the moment, the bowling and fielding departments are undoubtedly Englands strong suits, with the batting line up being overly reliant on bowlers who can bat. To think that the last specialist Batsman in the order is Eoin Morgan who comes in at No.5 is a little worrying, even if the tail does bat deep, because despite the added steel this brings, it doesn’t replace sufficiently the attacking ability lost by having relatively few batsmen. Australia bat to No.6 at the moment with Smith coming in at 7, and maybe following this model with the added quality that England have should be the way forward.
An easier decision would be to move Collingwood down to 7 in the order with Bell taking his place at No.4 once Kieswetter is fit to step back in to opening. That would be at the expense of Luke Wright, who can clear the fence just as well as Collingwood and is a more attacking threat with the ball. However, it seems that as with Collingwood, Wright is not often called upon with the ball; he is merely a “utility” player to quote David Lloyd. I think this would be my preferred solution in the short run, as replacing and finding a new Captain may be more trouble than it is worth. In the longer run, Ravi Bopara seems like the ideal fit to take the role of Collingwood in the side, with his stylish batting and often underrate bowling.
However, with the arrival of the 50 over format this set of challenges to the make up of the side are replaced by new ones. England won’t be thinking too hard about the T20 form of the game until the Summer, so this leaves plenty of time for either Collingwood to find his form, or for the selectors to decide upon the optimum long term strategy. For such a likeable bloke, who brings lots to all areas of the side, I hope it is the former.
