Former England cricketer Paul Collingwood is expected to be named as country’s interim coach for the upcoming Test series against West Indies says sources.
England had gone thrown an horrific year in Test cricket last year even after winning their second series in Sri Lanka in January 2021. The ‘Three Lions’ suffered a series loss to the hands of New Zealand ahead of the World Test Championship in June. Later the Virat Kohli-led Test side gained the series lead of 2-1 in five-match series which is still incomplete as the final match was postponed to this year after positive COVID cases in the Indian camp.
The Joe Root-led side saw another crushing defeat in the Ashes as they failed to win single Test in the five-match series in Australia. The Pat Cummins-led Australian side retained Ashes by winning it by 4-0.
Collingwood’s upgrade from an assistant coach would avoid a complete overhaul of the current coaching staff and allow interim managing director Andrew Strauss some breathing space to focus on identifying personnel and refining the set-up for the home international season, dailymail.co.uk reports on Sunday.
Collingwood coached England in the T20 series against West Indies when all the Ashes touring side was rested for the series. Former England opener Marcus Trescothick was his deputy in the tour as West Indies beat the visitors by 3-2 in the five-match T20I series.