England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Monday, February 7, that they have appointed Paul Collingwood as the interim head coach of the senior England men’s team for their upcoming three-match Test tour of the West Indies scheduled for next month. He was earlier appointed as a stand-in by Andrew Strauss, the ECB’s interim managing director of men’s cricket.
The appointment of Collingwood comes after Chris Silverwood was sacked last Friday following England’s humiliating 4-0 loss in the Ashes series 2021-22. Furthermore, Ashley Giles was also relinquished from his role as the managing director of ECB.
Consequently, Collingwood was promoted from his role of Assistant Coach, which he was appointed as in 2019, making it a smooth transition for the board. He had also served as the head coach for England’s tour of the West Indies last month, where they locked horns in five T20Is, which England lost by 3-2.
Collingwood is currently in Barbados and will join the squad when they arrive in Antigua on February 25 following which they will play a four-day warm-up match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on March 1. Their first Test is scheduled for March 8 at North Sound.
Paul Collingwood represented England in 68 Tests, 197 ODIs, and 36 T20Is, and aggregated only a few runs under 10,000 runs in the three formats. He was also an effective medium pacer with a total of 144 international wickets to his name. He was the first England men’s captain to lift an ICC trophy when the team won the 2010 World T20 Championship.
“I am genuinely excited to be leading the Test team for the tour of the Caribbean,” Collingwood said. “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.
“I have spoken to Joe Root and Ben Stokes, and both are excited and passionate to take the team forward in this new cycle. 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.”
England is expected to announce their squad for the West Indies tour by Tuesday while the touring party is expected to depart for Antigua on February 24.
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