Former England captain Paul Collingwood has agreed to re-join Scotland coaching team for the Cricket World Cup 2015. Back in January/February (2014), Collingwood helped Scotland qualify for the tournament in an interim head coach role last winter.
Since then, Collingwood has had a spell with England’s coaching team at the T20 World Cup, and he was also a key member of Durham’s squad in the Royal London One Day Cup in 2014.
Collingwood, who is England’s leading run-scorer in ODI cricket, is known for his clever cricketing brain, and his inclusion will boost Scotland’s morale before the all-important World Cup 2015.
Collingwood played 197 ODIs for England and scored 5092 runs. Collingwood also led England to their only global limited-overs glory, at the 2010 T20 World Cup.
“It’s a great pleasure for me to be back on the coaching team with the Scotland squad for the 2015 World Cup,” Collingwood said. “I’m very much looking forward to working with them to help get the team fully prepared for these incredibly important matches,” said Collingwood.
Cricket World Cup 2015 will be Scotland’s third World Cup appearance, and the preparations for the big tournament have already started. Scotland have never beaten a Test playing nation in 50-over cricket, but they would look to cause an upset in the 2015 World Cup.
Chairman of Cricket Scotland Keith Oliver, said that Collingwood’s experience will help Scotland and they will benefit immensely from his expertise and positive attitude.
“Paul brings with him a vast amount of experience and we’re thrilled to have secured him as part of our coaching team for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. There is no doubt that the Scotland team will benefit immensely from his expertise and positive attitude in this all-important global competition,” said Keith Oliver.
Scotland have a good pool of young batsmen, and they can all learn a lot from Collingwood’s experience. Members of the Scotland squad will head out to a nine day intensive batting camp in Dubai, starting on 9 November.
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By The Cricket Lounge
Image source: cricketscotland.com
