Durham captain Paul Collingwood has joined up with the England under-19s after returning from the successful ODI leg of the senior side’s tour to Bangladesh.
The 40-year-old will take on coaching duties with Andy Hurry’s side, including Durham’s Josh Coughlin, before their tour to India in the New Year.
The squad will be put through their paces at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough under the watchful eye of Hurry, Collingwood and co.
Collingwood will then travel to Dubai with the Young Lions and the Durham skipper is looking forward to vital coaching experience while helping aid the games of the next generation of cricketers.
“There’s a real push on the Young Lions and getting specialist coaches in for them, so I’m delighted to be part of it,” added the Durham captain.
“To be part of England development at whatever stage it is, it’s great to have the Three Lions on and try to help in whatever way possible. To try to get to know the guys, and whatever their strengths and weaknesses are, over the week – it will take a bit of time but it will be great to go to Dubai with them for three weeks and see the guys develop.
“It’s my first experience with a younger age group so from a personal point of view it’s great for my development as a coach.”
After recently returning from Bangladesh following the ODI series victory, Collingwood watched on from home as team mate Ben Stokes fired England to a first Test win with an outstanding all-round display.
Stokes took the two wickets that sealed England’s 22–run win on Monday morning, giving him match figures of six for 66 from 25 overs to go with the superb 85 he made in the second innings when the game was hanging in the balance.
Collingwood knows more than most about Stokes’ qualities, having seen his development at close quarters over the years, and he joined the unanimous praise of the all-rounder’s display in Chittagong.
“That innings will give him huge confidence, in terms of playing against a real turning ball. You could see from the footage that the Chittagong wicket was a huge turner so for him to score runs and also contribute with the ball with his reverse swing, he just seems to be growing as a cricketer all the time.
“And he wants to learn. We all know Ben Stokes can smash it out of the park and he has the power to do that. But could he get through difficult periods against the turning ball, did he have the patience? He’s answered all those questions. The way he went about his innings and compiled that innings was absolutely first-class.
“Every single thing he’s doing at the moment seems to be ticking another box in his development for the future.”