The appointment comes after former head coach Chris Silverwood and managing director Ashley Giles were both sacked last week; "I am genuinely excited to be leading the Test team for the tour of the Caribbean," Collingwood said. "I can't wait to get started"
Monday 7 February 2022 17:15, UK
England have appointed Paul Collingwood as interim head coach for March's three-Test tour of the West Indies.
The appointment comes after former head coach Chris Silverwood and managing director Ashley Giles were both sacked last week, following England's 4-0 Ashes defeat to Australia.
Former England all-rounder Collingwood was assistant coach under Silverwood and took charge of last month's 3-2 T20 series defeat in the West Indies.
"I am genuinely excited to be leading the Test team for the tour of the Caribbean," Collingwood said. "I can't wait to get started.
"Having a challenging Test series against the West Indies straight off the back of the Ashes disappointment gives us a chance from now to reset and rebuild.
"Playing Test matches for England is the highest accolade in the game. My objective is to give players clarity, direction and encouragement for them to start building something special."
Collingwood's appointment follows Sir Andrew Strauss taking up the position of interim managing director, with a reset of England's red-ball cricket set-up demanded after just one win in their last 14 Test matches.
Strauss confirmed last week Joe Root would remain as Test captain, while England's squad for the West Indies tour, which gets under way on March 1, is set to be named on Tuesday,
"I have spoken to Joe Root and Ben Stokes, and both are excited and passionate to take the team forward in this new cycle," Collingwood added.
"Although they know it won't be easy, they have the desire and bravery to do things differently to ensure the team can prosper.
"We have an opportunity to get back on track."
March 1-4: Tour match (opponents TBC), Antigua
March 8-12: First Test, Antigua
March 16-20: Second Test, Barbados
March 24-28: Third Test, Grenada
Collingwood's appointment for just the upcoming tour suggests England plan to have a permanent successor to Silverwood in place for June's home Test series against New Zealand.
Whether the 45-year-old is seen as a viable long-term replacement for Silverwood remains to be seen, but as a former England captain in white-ball cricket and a highly-rated coach in his own right the next few weeks could present an opportunity for him to make his case as the leading homegrown candidate.
The last time an interim coach took the reins for a series in the West Indies, Andy Flower in 2009 following the sacking of Peter Moores, he went on to land the job permanently and enjoyed huge success in taking the Test side to number one in the world. Strauss was captain of Flower's side and counted Collingwood as a trusted team-mate.
Before Monday's announcement, another member of that hugely successful England side, Kevin Pietersen, threw his support behind Collingwood for the permanent role.
"The focus should NOT shift from how poor county cricket is & I think Strauss knows this," Pietersen tweeted on Sunday.
"@Colly622 is perfect to lead England. No 'super name' coach can fix England's batting.
"It starts from the bottom!"
Former England captain Michael Atherton says Collingwood's interim appointment "makes a lot of sense", but has warned his hopes of landing a permanent role could be damaged by his association with the Silverwood regime.
"This was a widely touted move really," Atherton told Sky Sports News. "Paul Collingwood has been in and around the set-up. He's on the payroll, he's pretty highly regarded within the set-up.
"For all those reasons it makes a lot of sense for him to do the three Test matches in the Caribbean, but it's only short term."
Atherton says Collingwood's hopes of a permanent role - more likely with the limited-overs teams - would be enhanced if England decide to split red ball and white-ball coaching duties.
"He's a contender for sure. He's been around the set-up under Chris Silverwood, so that's not necessarily an advantage because clearly they wanted to make some fundamental changes from the way the team has been performing in the last year or two and Collingwood has been a part of that.
"I think that there are some key structural decisions to make first of all before you think about the personnel.
"Are England going to give it to one man to coach across formats? As far as England are concerned that's a heavy responsibility because they tend to play more - or as much - as any other team.
"Paul Collingwood will be a contender. He'd probably be a slightly stronger contender for the white-ball set-up if they split it that way, given that they definitely want to try to revamp England's Test match performances, and Collingwood has been part of the set-up that they've really overthrown in the last few days."
Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes Collingwood can restore "fight" in the players following their chastening tour of Australia.
Collingwood was renowned for his toughness and held a batting average of 40.56 across his 68 Test matches for England during a highly decorated multi-format career.
"Paul Collingwood was a real feisty, nuggety cricketer," Hussain told Sky Sports News.
"There were games he played for England where he would give absolutely everything to make sure England didn't lose that game, or win that game.
"I think he can bring a bit of that to this tour. Towards the end of that Ashes tour they just fell over in a heap… it was almost like they'd given up.
"Paul Collingwood never game up on a game of a cricket and if he can bring one thing to this England side it's the fight, and fight right until the last ball."
