“You can look back on parts of your career and that for me was a really important moment today, in terms of confidence levels which can diminish when you’re not in good form. It’s been a long time since I’ve contributed hugely in a match and scored runs like that so it was great on a personal level to get that confidence back, realise I can still play cricket and score runs” said Collingwood.
“Sometimes you have doubts in the back of your mind but I’ve really felt over the past few weeks since coming back from injury that I’ve felt a lot more at ease at the crease and comfortable and confident.
“This was a big one for me, on a personal note it was a big hundred. I’ve had a lean time in the t20’s, three or four innings where I haven’t made a contribution so it was nice to go out there on what was quite a spicy pitch early on and put a good performance in because it puts the team in a good position.
“I’ve been out of form for quite a long time and I’ve had a break through the injury and it’s great to get back scoring runs and making a contribution with the bat which is obviously my job.
“To have that so many people in on a Monday to watch Championship cricket was great and I was glad to be able to put a performance in for them.
“It’s been a fantastic day for us in terms of we’ve played some very positive cricket. It’s one of those pitches where if it’s in good areas you’ve got to be very watchful but you can score quickly on it, anything too full, or too short, it does come nicely on to the bat.
“It’s a quick outfield too and the boys played positively today, we managed to score pretty quickly and ourselves into a good position. We’ve certainly got the bowlers that can cause them problems on this kind of wicket. There is a bit of up and down movement and a bit of swing and seam as well so we’ll look forward to getting out there tomorrow”.