Collingwood desperate to find form before World Cup

LONDON - England all-rounder Paul Collingwood is desperate to find his form ahead of the World Cup after his poor form with the bat led to his demotion to No.7 in the ongoing one-day series against Australia.

Collingwood had a horrific Ashes, scoring 83 runs in five Test matches. Subsequently, he retired from Test cricket to focus on his limited overs career.

But the Twenty20 captain is trying to get back his batting form and hit a scratchy 27 against Australia in the fourth One-day International at the Adelaide Oval.

Collingwood admitted his batting slump but said he is not far away from regaining the touch.

“Is the writing on the wall (about being axed from the side)? Is that what you are trying to say? We will have to see what conditions are like. I am desperate to get in the side, like every other batsman. It will be interesting to see what combination they go with,” Collingwood was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.

“I have been there before, but it is not a position I would like to keep for too long. Hopefully I will get myself back into some sort of form and get up the order a bit, but I understand the reasons I am there,” he said.

Collingwood recalled the times where had gone through a rough patch since his ODI debut in June 2001.

“There have been plenty of low points along the way,” he said. “It was ridiculous 2006-07. I went from that point thinking, I cant even bat any more, to getting man-of-the-match awards. It can change quickly.”

The saving grace for Collingwood has been his bowling. He castled Michael Clarke with his slow-medium pace and conceded 22 runs from seven overs in the fourth ODI.

“I want to contribute in whichever way I can, want to win games for England,” he said.

“It is a great way (taking wickets) to take the pressure off in many ways from your batting. But ultimately my role in the side is to score runs and thats what I want to get back to,” he stressed.