C’wood to be aggressive captain

Newly named England ODI captain Paul Collingwood has said his style of leadership will be positive and aggressive as England try and rebuild their one-day side.

“I’ll have to learn the ropes as I go along but one thing is for sure, I want the players to express themselves and to be positive and aggressive,” he said today.

“England have always played their best cricket when they’ve gone out onto the field and tried to stamp their authority on the opposition. We will all hold our hands up and admit we did not have a good winter in the one-day format, and we have not been a great one-day side for some time now.

“However, there is an opportunity for me to go out and turn things around and, while it will be a real challenge, it’s exciting and I can’t wait to get started.

“I’m not talking about all the batsmen going out there and trying to hit it out of the park from ball one, I’m talking about intensity, about aggression and about self belief.”

Collingwood also spoke of the need to consult the previous captain, Michael Vaughan, to draw on his valuable experience leading England, but also insisted he would be his own man, using his own style of leadership whilst at the helm of England’s ODI side.

England take on the West Indies for a three match ODI series starting on July 1st at Lords.