ICC Cricket World Cup: ‘Backyard cricket’ a great hit — Collingwood

Dubai: Former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood has hailed the standard of batting at the ongoing Cricket World Cup, saying the tournament’s top players are producing ‘no fear cricket’.

The veteran player worked as a coach with Scotland as they took on the likes of co-hosts Australia and New Zealand in Group A before ultimately going home winless, so he got to see up close batsmen producing a style of cricket that he thinks has only developed in the last six months or so.

The 38-year-old Durham star — who captained England to their sole global trophy at the World Twenty20 in the West Indies in 2010 — picked out South Africa’s AB de Villiers and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell in particular as he described how the one-day game is developing.

Speaking to media at the launch of Friday’s Emirates Airline Twenty20 tournament, Collingwood said: “The one-day game seems to have gone to a new level completely in the last six months.

“Players have gone out there and broken records, teams are now making 400. Some of the batsmanship in one-day cricket, because of the T20s, has taken the game to a new level. It’s magnificent to watch there live.

“What teams seem to be doing now is freeing their minds up. It’s the mental side of the game. The best teams seem to be going out there and playing backyard cricket — as if there’s no consequences on their wicket whatsoever.

“How you get those players in that frame of mind is another matter. It takes time, confidence, security in your place — all that kind of stuff. You can’t just click the switch and say ‘right guys, go out there and go for it’.

“When you’re watching people like AB de Villiers and Maxwell from Australia go out there, from ball one it’s no fear cricket. That’s the way the game’s going.”

Collingwood played 68 Tests, 197 One Day Internationals and 35 Twenty20 Internationals for England between 2001 and 2011, making valuable contributions with bat, ball and in the field in all three formats.

Eoin Morgan’s side slumped to a group-stage exit in Australia and New Zealand, where the only teams they beat were Scotland and Afghanistan. And, while Collingwood is impressed with much of the talent in the current England set-up, he fears the team is in danger of being left behind.

“I played for England for an 11-year period and, when I first started, there was probably two players in every side that could clear the ropes, hit big sixes into the stands, and do that consistenly,” he said. “Now the game has changed and every year it gets better and better.

“The current England side is probably the most powerful I’ve seen. When you’ve got the likes of [Chris] Jordan coming in at eight and Jos Buttler at seven, and you’ve got Ravi Bopara. You could go right the way down — Alex Hales, Belly times the ball beautifully, if Ben Stokes was included in the squad, all these guys.

“I see throughout county cricket there’s powerful cricketers around, you’ve got to use them in the right way and in the right positions.

“The way I see cricket going in the future, teams are just picking T20 sides for one-day cricket. And they’re getting better at taking risks, so they actually don’t become risks over a period of time. The game is moving forward at a rapid rate and you’ve got to stay ahead of it.”

Collingwood has taken up a variety of brief coaching roles in recent months — including helping the UAE with their fielding, as he was famed as an outstanding point fielder in his prime.

And, with his playing days coming to an end, he is considering coaching as a permanent career move if he is offered the right role.

“I thoroughly enjoy it,” Collingwood said. “At the moment I’m still playing, still captaining Durham in the four-day form of the game. But the great thing with playing county cricket is that during the off season you do have opportunities to go off and do other things.

“I’m at that stage of my career, I don’t have too long left, so I’ve got to find what the next step is going to be. Certainly coaching is something that I enjoy, I also enjoy doing the media, but we’ll just have to see what opportunities come up.”