Cricket
Collingwood to capt England
2009-05-01 15:30
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London - Paul Collingwood was Friday appointed as England's captain for next month's World Twenty20 tournament, less than a year after standing down as one-day skipper.
The 32-year-old Durham all-rounder quit the one-day role last August on the same day Michael Vaughan announced he was stepping down from the Test leadership, citing concerns it was affecting his form.
His short limited-overs reign was dogged by controversy - he upheld an appeal for a run-out against New Zealand after a mid-pitch collision and was then banned for a slow over rate last summer.
England were also outclassed by their opponents in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, at which they were led by Collingwood.
But with Test and ODI captain Andrew Strauss not considered either by himself, or the England management, to be suited to the shortest version of the game, the selectors were forced to go back to Collingwood.
National selector Geoff Miller said: "The captaincy is always a difficult decision but we felt that was the right one. We thought long and hard about it and in the end we came up with Paul Collingwood, and I'm sure we've got that right."
Collingwood's form in all forms of the game has recovered since last summer, making him ready to accept a personal request from new coach Andy Flower to resume control.
"I said I would take a lot of persuading to do the job again," Collingwood said on Friday. "That was captaining full time. This is an opportunity where I will be captaining for three weeks in a World Cup and that kind of opportunity doesn't come around every day.
"I thought long and hard about it and the last thing I wanted it to do was affect other parts of my game such as Test cricket - I don't think it will do so given it's just a three-week period."
Reflecting on his decision to quit the one-day role last summer, he added: "There were things behind the scenes which meant you were constantly thinking about the game.
"It might be seen as selfish to have given up the captaincy to concentrate on other areas of my game but all I wanted to do since I was a kid was play at the highest level for England and that meant I had to."