Collingwood gets interim coach job for tour to Windies

England’s Paul Collingwood, who guided England to the 2010 ICC T20 World Cup title win as captain, was yesterday named interim coach to replace outgoing Chris Silverwood. (Reuters)

Former all-rounder to manage England squad during the three-Test series Former all-rounder Paul Collingwood will take charge of England’s Test tour of the West Indies next month after being installed as interim head coach, cricket chiefs announced yesterday. The departures of head coach Chris Silverwood and assistant coach Graham Thorpe following England’s humiliating 4-0 Ashes defeat in Australia left Collingwood as the highest-ranked member of the backroom team. Collingwood, who oversaw England’s recent 3-2 Twenty20 series defeat in the West Indies, will take charge for Tests in Antigua, Barbados and Grenada. The series starts on March 8. The squad, which is likely to contain some new faces alongside the majority of the side that flopped in Australia, is set to be named today. “I am genuinely excited to be leading the Test team for the tour of the Caribbean,” said the 45-year-old. “I can’t wait to get started. “Having a challenging Test series against the West Indies straight off the back of the Ashes disappointment gives us a chance from now to reset and rebuild. “Playing Test matches for England is the highest accolade in the game. My objective is to give players clarity, direction and encouragement for them to start building something special.” England’s red-ball side has struggled over the 12 months, winning just one of their past 14 Tests, and Collingwood must now begin the job of halting that sequence. “I have spoken to Joe Root and Ben Stokes (captain and vice-captain), and both are excited and passionate to take the team forward in this new cycle,” he said. “Although they know it won’t be easy, they have the desire and bravery to do things differently to ensure the team can prosper. We have an opportunity to get back on track.” Before yesterday’s announcement, Kevin Pietersen threw his support behind Collingwood for the permanent role.  “The focus should NOT shift from how poor county cricket is & I think Strauss knows this,” Pietersen tweeted. “@Colly622 is perfect to lead England. No ‘super name’ coach can fix England’s batting. It starts from the bottom!” In a report posted on Sky Sports News website, former England captain Michael Atherton said Collingwood’s interim appointment “makes a lot of sense”, but has warned his hopes of landing a permanent role could be damaged by his association with the Silverwood regime. “This was a widely touted move really,” Atherton told Sky Sports News. “Paul Collingwood has been in and around the set-up. He’s on the payroll, he’s pretty highly regarded within the set-up. For all those reasons it makes a lot of sense for him to do the three Test matches in the Caribbean, but it’s only short term.” Another former England captain Nasser Hussain believes Collingwood can restore “fight” in the players following their chastening tour of Australia. Collingwood was renowned for his toughness and held a batting average of 40.56 across his 68 Test matches for England during a highly decorated multi-format career, Sky Sports News reported yesterday. “Paul Collingwood was a real feisty, nuggety cricketer,” Hussain told Sky Sports News. “There were games he played for England where he would give absolutely everything to make sure England didn’t lose that game, or win that game.”