On May 16, 2010, Paul Collingwood achieved something no England captain had before when he secured their first men’s World Cup title at the 2010 World T20.
While Collingwood didn’t have a notable campaign with bat in hand, scoring just 61 runs in seven innings at just over a run a ball, he was credited by Eoin Morgan, who would become the second man to captain England to a world title almost a decade later, with having revolutionised England’s approach in the shortest format, showing a tactical aptitude for a format still in its infancy and emboldening a previously timid team.
“When you look at what we’ve achieved here, everyone’s extremely grateful, being in that position with that special group of players having a leader like Colly and achieving what we did,” Morgan said on a Sky Watchalong of the 2010 World T20 final chase. “We haven’t won a T20 World Cup since then. We came very close in 2016, but to actually get yourself over the line and lift that trophy is a huge accomplishment.
“When Colly talks about taking risks and the need to do that, if there’s anybody out there sitting on the fence the whole time about whether to take a gamble on an individual player, on a mantra, on a mindset, go for it. There’s something very exciting when a player hears, ‘We’re going to give this absolutely everything and be positive, have a sense of freedom when we play, empower the players, I think it’s a great example for taking risks. And that was all Colly.”
However, Collingwood played just four more T20Is for England after that World T20 win, with Stuart Broad handed the reins in May 2011. England won just two games at the 2012 World T20 before crashing out at the Super Eight stage, and, also speaking on the Watchalong, Collingwood said he felt he deserved to be England captain until at least the end of the following tournament.
[breakout id=”0″][/breakout] “I’m a big believer that, as a captain if you’ve won a World Cup, you deserve the right to defend it,” he said. “With only eight games in between that World Cup and the next World Cup, even though my form wasn’t great, I was hoping that I would be given the chance to defend it next time round. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, but I’m still very proud of what I achieved with the team.”
