Paul Collingwood ponders test future after wretched Ashes series
England might have won the Ashes series in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 after a lapse of 24 years and while there are celebrations in the camp there is despair for one player who has found the going tough in the series thus far.
Collingwood who led England to the T20 World Championship title in the Caribbean earlier in the year has been in poor form in the biggest stage in the longest format of the game, the right hander is yet to post a half century in the five
innings that he played in the first four tests of the series.
After his failure in the Melbourne test, Collingwood stated that he knew that there were people questioning his place in the team and they have their reasons as he has not been able to play to his potential yet.
"My form during this series and most recently my latest failure in the fourth Test in Melbourne means the subject of my Test future was bound to be raised sooner or later,' Collingwood was quoted as saying by the
Mail on Sunday.
"I am obviously disappointed with the series I have had with the bat so far. I can't get away from the fact that scoring runs is my job in the side, so I won't hide away. I have still got a lot of fight left in me. I honestly feel as fit
as I have ever been. I am enjoying Test cricket and playing for England more than I ever have done and our success, and if you are enjoying it why would you give it up?
Despite his failure in the first four tests, Collingwood has claimed that he would do his utmost to play to his potential in the Sydney test and score big runs as the English squad pushes for a 3-1 series win over their arch rivals.
"On a personal level, this is a big week for me in Sydney," he added. "I am at the crossroads and what happens in the final Test may well determine what direction I go in. I am sure by the end of this Test; I will know more myself and
be better able to judge what the general feeling is in terms of where I am as a Test player and the contribution I can still make to the England team in future and what is the best way forward."
Meanwhile England has started the Sydney test positively reducing the hosts to 137/4 at the end of first day of the match in what was a curtailed day due to poor light and intermittent showers.
The English team is set to bat tomorrow unless the Aussies lower order digs in and posts a big total on the board, Collingwood would get a chance of redeeming himself in the last test match and improve his record in the series where he
has accumulated 70 runs at a measly average of 14 runs per innings.
He also knows that he cannot afford to slack any further as there is the exceptional talent of Eoin Morgan in the wings who posted a splendid hundred when England was in a real spot of bother in the first test of the summer against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
Morgan did not take the field in any of the five tests, yet he would be the central figure in the plans for the limited overs formats and the ODI World Cup.
In the meantime Collingwood is mulling about his future in the longest format of the game. He knows well that Sydney is very much a last chance of redemption yet there are few who would be betting against him making an astounding comeback
as he is one man who is at his very best when the chips are down.
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