Captain Collingwood

[Nostromo]

I have believed for a while now that Paul Collingwood is very good captain material and what I have seen of his leadership so far has greatly enhanced that opinion. Collingwood is one of those steely characters who hardens under adverse conditions and spreads that fighting spirit among his teammates. In all the matches so far, he has led from the front with enormous belief in his team and more importantly, in himself. When Nasser Hussain said "Collingwood is that kind of a man" - one with self-belief - I found myself agreeing for once with the Essex man. Even when England's position in yesterday's ODI looked hopeless, Collingwood refused to give-up and continued to launch a calculated assault till rain made it impossible to continue. I admire that kind of big-hearted fighting spirit - it is very infectious.

Therefore, I am still wondering why Paul Collingwood is not seen as Vaughan's successor as captain at Test level, a job that might become available sooner than one expects if the latter's fragile body keeps breaking down. People look to the likes of Flintoff and even Pietersen simply because they are larger than life characters and assume that they will make good captains. Flintoff might be a great battler at a personal level, but in the 2006-7 Ashes series and elsewhere, he did not show that he had the kind of cool, intelligent, strategic mind that a successful captain needs. Collingwood on the other hand, has shown exactly that and more in this ODI series and under him the team seems to be looking suddenly stronger and more unified. Watching them on the field throwing themselves about to stop runs or take catches, they seem more organised and active than ever before. And Collingwood does not hesitate to put himself on when he believes that his own (often smirked at) medium-pacers are the right choice under prevailing conditions. Both Vaughan & Flintoff severely underestimated Collingwood's bowling ability and underused him.

I think Paul Collingwood is a great captain and the selectors should consider him as the first choice for both forms of the game when the Test vacany arises.

[greg]

I think if Vaughan was to break down again Collingwood would end up as test captain ahead of Strauss.A bit like when Vaughan got the one day job and Hussain was still test captain you can see the new captain has invigorated the side and it can't be long until Vaughan feels pressure to step aside as test captain despite his excellent record.

Flintoff will never captain England again as he looks unlikely to be able to play 3 games in a row these days anyway,Pietersen is a maverick who should never be captain.Strauss needs to concentrate on scoring runs and it is too soon for Cook who seems to be the favourite to take the job eventually.Collingwood is the obvious candidate to take over from Vaughan now and i would be happy if it was him.

[Nostromo]

I don't know why Strauss was ever even considered as a possibility to be England's captain. Apart from his on-off batting form (which even Collingwood may ostensibly go through like any other player), he does not appear to have the sort of mental strength needed for the job. I know we cannot read too much into body language, but if we are honest with ourselves, we all do it all the same in almost every walk of life and more often than not, that 'hunch' turns out to be correct. To me, Strauss has always come across as hesitent and uncertain under pressure, far more likley to crack than the steely Collingwood.

Young Alistair Cook on the other hand, does appear to have the right sort of mentality for leadership and like you, I can see prospects for captaincy in the future. He is 8 years younger than Collingwood and so there is every prospect of a natural progression over the years.

[Barmy Harmy]

Colly is still learning as a captain. He makes some odd decisions but that is down to inexperience. He has only captained the odd game for Durham but he will get better and in 2/3 years time I can see him up there with the best of them.

[Nostromo]

Originally Posted by Barmy Harmy

Colly is still learning as a captain. He makes some odd decisions.

If you are referring to his choice of Jon Lewis as Anderson's bowling partner instead of Broad in the last ODI, I would say that hindsight is a wonderful thing. ODIs, with their silly powerplay field settings, can never be taken as a useful yardstick to judge any bowler in the short term. Someone mad enough like Sehwag might get away with hitting even a top class bowler all over the field for a few overs, making the latter's figures look awful. Broad might also have been similarly hammered or Jon Lewis could just as easily taken out 2 or 3 top Indian batsmen in that first spell of his, in which case everyone would have been crowing about Collingwood's "inspired and brilliant decision".

[Ernest]

I don't fault Colly's captaincy at all - I just don't believe a bowler should have been in the side at all.

I agree that power Play and all the other daft rules spoil cricket, and almost make one day cricket un-watchable.

[pie_chucker]

Colly went with Lewis because he thought there would be some swing and seam around early on and he hoped that Lewis would benefit, he didnt and got hit.....

Generally though i like Collys captaincy, its agressive, positive and importantly he captains without fear .

[acker]

I will zip my mouth and respect your choice "Nostromo" but just mention a young man with a very short surname that starts with "B" who's name has not been mentioned in this thread took England to victory very comfortably in an ODI that I saw on the international sports news here in Australia.
I think he will inevitably end up with it, its really just a matter of when.

[acker]

I will unzip my mouth again now

I didn't even expect this left feild "wrong un" from Collingwood.

No doubt about one thing, he sure is passionate. To the extreme.

[darksideofthemoon]

I thought Vaughan took to the ODI captaincy more naturally but Collingwood hasn't done too badly. We only had two 20/20s against WI earlier in the year where he did ok probably because it was the ODI team playing them but after 5 20/20s he made quite a few mistakes with batting orders, team selection, etc. I thought it was a very good idea giving the bowlers only one over each to get through the powerplays but after that it was very hit and miss. What plans that would work with some teams wouldn't work against others. At least we have the one day games again so he will have more time to think.