Readers of Cricket Burble will know I'm a bit of a Paul Collingwood fan. So it's great to read this Cricinfo article - predictably titled "Colly flowering" - talking about how Collingwood has performed the second best behind Pietersen since 2005. What I find particularly pleasing is the comments given at the end of the article by numourous Collingwood fans. Even one comment, from a New Zealand fan, suggesting he has been wrongly vilified for his role in the Grant Elliot run out - something I definitely agree with.And having seen that there does seem to be some support for Mr Collingwood, I checked his popularity in the only way there is to check popularity these days - the number of Facebook groups created to honour him - 8. That compares to 3 for Andrew Strauss and vast numbers for Pietersen - it seems that Collingwood is always going to come second to Pietersen whether it be runs or Facebook groups. But you get the impression he'd be very happy with being rated as second best, rather than constantly being on the verge of being dropped. If he can continue scoring a hundred every couple of matches as he has done lately, he might finally be able to get the respect he deserves....
It's amazing how much criticism Collingwood attracts despite his consistent run-scoring. I suspect that attitude will not change, but at least he's proved himself to be up to the challenge of performing in the face of continual discussion over his selection!
ReplyDeleteHooray for ginger all-rounders!