Collingwood: struggling for form

Worrying about other people for a change might be good for Collingwood and it will hopefully allow him to play with freedom and get some runs on the board.

Michael Atherton
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You can only beat what's put in front of you and England did that pretty well in this series.

We may not know the value of this victory until England face a stronger side in the shape of South Africa later this summer, but this series finished on a very good note, albeit against a very poor New Zealand team.

There are still areas where improvement is required, particularly the middle-order batting and the occasional inconsistency of the bowling, but England did what they had to do and I'm fairly certain that they'll raise their game when they have to against South Africa.

Winning will bring its own momentum and will certainly breed confidence amongst the players.

England can take away many positives. Michael Vaughan's captaincy was good and his batting looked much better, while Kevin Pietersen looked back to somewhere near his best at Trent Bridge.

Andrew Strauss in particular was back to his very best form - which is a real plus point for England - and James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom were swinging the new ball lethally at times and looked very dangerous.

The only real downside was the form of two or three batsmen; Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell and, to a lesser extent, Alastair Cook, who is starting to find life in international cricket a bit tougher than before.

Collingwood and Bell are the main concerns and it's a big bonus for them that they've got a month of one-day cricket coming up.

Changes

If the selectors had to pick a team to face South Africa today, then they'd probably make a change but given that both players might shine in one-day cricket and build their confidence in the coming weeks, then there's a fair chance that the line-up will be the same by the time the South Africa series comes around.

Both of them will have the chance to play a bit more freely and there won't be quite as much pressure on their technique. Coming in at number four in one-day cricket is easier as there will be fewer slips and you can get away with one or two mishaps.

As captain, Collingwood will have other responsibilities and that could take his mind off his own game. Worrying about other people for a change might be good for him and it will hopefully allow him to play with freedom and get some runs on the board.

The selectors don't want to drop Collingwood, that's for sure. Although it shouldn't really matter, it would not be ideal for the one-day captain to be left out of the Test team.

Both Collingwood and Bell have their good points; Bell is a classier player but Collingwood can get runs in tough situations. If a change was to be made it would be a tough call to decide who should be left out.

Ravi Bopara would be the obvious candidate to replace one of them and Owais Shah would also be considered. However, I suspect that Bell and Collingwood will get runs in the one-day matches and we could see the same six batsmen starting the first Test at Lord's next month.

Considerations

Andrew Flintoff will not be fit for that first Test and he needs to prove that his body can withstand the rigours of first-class cricket - and show some form with the bat - before he can be considered.

He may be available for the final two games, but I'd have thought it's unlikely he'll figure. There's simply too much for him to prove.

I'm happy with how the attack is looking at present. The nature of swing bowling means that they will not always be metronomically accurate, but Anderson and Sidebottom looked dangerous for long periods against New Zealand.

Sidebottom was outstanding, Anderson was fantastic at Trent Bridge and both looked capable of taking plenty of wickets.

Monty Panesar came in when required at Old Trafford and Stuart Broad is going to be an outstanding cricketer, so by and large I'm happy with the bowlers.

There will be some hard choices to make if and when Flintoff comes back and if Simon Jones is fit because you'd think those two bowlers would be in the equation, so there will be decisions for the selectors in the future.

But as it stands, I feel exactly the same side will be picked against South Africa and while they will need to raise their game against a tougher opponent, this team are more than capable of doing that.