Rivalry with Australia will be fierce: Collingwood

LONDON - England batsman Paul Collingwood has said that the competition in Australia will be absolutely fierce, and added that he is looking forward to having that kind of rivalry, knowing what the Ashes means.

He Collingwood is looking forward to the Ashes, and believes that recent experiences may count in England’s favour.

“To have come through it all and still been able to produce the performances we did says a lot about this group of players,” the Daily Mail quoted him, as saying.

A recent bonding mission in Germany reinforced the closeness within the squad, as Collingwood acknowledges.

“We were pushed to the limit physically and mentally but the amazing thing was how much you actually have left in the tank when you think it’s empty, what you can do for yourself and for your team-mates,” he said.Losing the Ashes 5-0 last time we played in Australia was horrendous. My worst time was in the second Test in Adelaide. I’d had the greatest high of scoring 206 in the first innings and just about the lowest low when I got stuck in the second innings as we were bowled out cheaply and they won a game they had no right to win,” he said.

“I spent a lot of the rest of the tour wondering how things might have turned out if I had been more positive and Ricky Ponting spent most of the first Test in Cardiff last summer making sure I hadn’t forgotten,” he said. (ANI)