Paul Collingwood, English cricketer and coach
Paul David Collingwood (born 26 May 1976) is an English cricket coach and former player, who played in all three formats of the game internationally for England. He played for Durham County Cricket Club and was the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 winning captain. Collingwood was a regular member of the England Test side and captain of the One Day International (ODI) team (2007–2008). He is the first T20I cap for England.
He captained his county club, Durham County Cricket Club, for the final six seasons of his career. A batting all-rounder, whose batting combined natural strokeplay with great tenacity, Collingwood also bowled reliable medium pace. Described as a "natural athlete", he was regarded as one of the finest fielders of his time, usually fielding at backward point or at third or fourth slip in Tests; he also deputised as wicket-keeper for England.His first-class debut was in 1996 and he made his first appearance for England in One Day International cricket in 2001 and made his Test match debut in 2003. For two years he remained an occasional Test player but after selection for the final Test of the 2005 Ashes, he secured a regular place. His 206 during the 2006–07 Ashes was the first double century by an England batsman in Australia for 78 years and in a match that England lost. A series of three consecutive match-winning performances by Collingwood at the end of the 2006–07 Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia brought him enthusiastic approval in the British media. His "allround display of incredible nerve and tenacity" helped to secure the trophy for England. In 2010 he led the England team to their first ICC trophy, the 2010 World Twenty20. Until May 2019, he was England's most capped ODI cricketer and was, until surpassed by Ian Bell in 2015, the leading ODI run scorer.He announced his retirement from Test cricket in January 2011, during the fifth Test of the 2010–11 Ashes series. He finished on a high, becoming a three-times Ashes winner as England won a series in Australia for the first time in 24 years, with three innings victories contributing to a 3–1 win. He retired from first-class and List A cricket in September 2018.Having retired from playing, Collingwood moved into coaching. He was part of the coaching team for Scotland and for Durham CCC, before joining the staff of the England Cricket Team in 2014 as a limited-overs specialist and fielding coach. In February 2022, he was named interim head coach of the men's England cricket team.