CRICKET : Paul Collingwood is adamant Tuesday night’s loss to South Africa ‘A’ will not halt the momentum England had already gained from the positive start made on their tour to the country.
Paul Collingwood is adamant Tuesday night’s loss to South Africa ‘A’ will not halt the momentum England had already gained from the positive start made on their tour to the country.
The all-rounder began his stint as stand-in skipper in Andrew Strauss’ absence with a four-wicket loss to the Proteas’ second-stringers in Bloemfontein. However, he insists his side will not be affected by the result, which came after a woeful batting display saw them dismissed for 89.
“No, not at all,” was his response to a question relating to lost momentum. “I never like losing, but I think sometimes it is going to be a little bit of a reality check as well.”
He added: “We’ve started so well, we’ve pretty much done everything perfectly so far in terms of batting and bowling, our fielding’s been exceptional.
“Tonight (Tuesday) we got one of the disciplines wrong. That’s the area we’ve got to bounce back from and do better on Friday.
“But we’ve got a lot of togetherness in the side, it’s a really great atmosphere and there’s a lot of hard work going into it. I guess it’s just our decision making in this form of the game that tonight has let us down.”
Although England’s injury concerns are all minor, the list of affected players is growing with Graeme Swann the latest worry after he left the field with a slight thigh problem. He joins frontline seamers James Anderson (knee), Graham Onions (back) and Stuart Broad (shoulder) with niggles, but Collingwood was expecting all, except the Nottinghamshire all-rounder, to be fit.
He continued: “I think he (Broad) is going to be doubtful. I mean it’s pretty much going to take a miracle if he’s going to be fit for the Twenty20s. He has been very sore on the shoulder there, but he’s progressing well, so hopefully he’ll be available for the first one-dayer.
“Jimmy’s just a little bit stiff in the right knee, but again he should be fit for Friday and Graham Onions will come back into the reckoning as well.
“He (Swann) came off with a stiff side, but he’s spoken to the medical staff and they don’t seemed to be too concerned.”
