England’s Ashes flops “deserve medals not criticism” for enduring the five-Test series in Australia during a pandemic, says England assistant coach Paul Collingwood.
Collingwood, the acting head coach of the England T20 squad that is touring in the West Indies, has leapt to the defence of the maligned team that was rolled 4-0 this month.
He said the series should have been split in two with two Tests this summer and three next to have made it more competitive.
He said that was discussed among players but was never formally proposed by the England & Wales Cricket Board to Cricket Australia.
“People have to understand what it’s been like, and it is almost impossible to measure how much the bubbles have affected preparation,” Collingwood told reporters.
“These guys deserve medals not criticism. They should be told ‘well done’ for even going. It’s the equivalent of the England football team being asked to go to a World Cup, then from that bubble into the Euros. Would you expect a performance from that scenario? It’s ludicrous.
“Yes, we made mistakes, 100 per cent we made selection mistakes, we made toss mistakes, but the fact we actually turned up and agreed a five-match Ashes series, the guys should be given medals for that.
“It would’ve been much better if we’d done two matches and then three next year. That would’ve been a great compromise. But, no, Australia were not bothered that they were going to receive an England team who were mentally fatigued, they just wanted to get the product out there. They just wanted the Ashes. We were sitting ducks.”
Collingwood said he thought finances were prioritised ahead of players’ mental health.
“We kept cricket going for those two years; we had to do it for financial reasons. Players have had to sacrifice things, as have their families,” Collingwood said.
(Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
“Resilience is a major quality you need to have when you go to Australia, and if your resilience is removed because of the conditions you’ve been in, that has an effect.
“If people are expecting top performances from your best players, and your best players are playing all the time, it’s unrealistic. You just can’t do that.
“Hopefully bubbles are starting to move out of cricket now and I just hope the administrators and governing bodies don’t keep pressing for them trying to protect matches because we also have to protect the mental health of the players and management.
“What I have seen over the last two years is that we’ve kept the show on the road, and it was important to keep the show on the road to preserve people’s jobs – whether it be media, players or administrators. We saved a lot of jobs doing that. The Ashes was one step too far.”
Collingwood added that bubbles could prematurely end careers.
“This is another thing that I’m worried about. You have seen it around world cricket. People like De Kock, Chris Morris retired early,” Collingwood said.
“Take someone like Chris Woakes. The most loveable and down-to-earth guy. I have seen him in some serious mental states.
“We have seen Ben Stokes, someone we consider to be the most mentally tough cricketer in the world, been hit by this.
“I just hope there are no ramifications moving forward because when they come, they won’t be obvious next week or the week after. These are things that might come out down the line. That’s what scares me.”
WINSTON
Roar Rookie
Whatever the Australian excuse is, as presented to the citizens of the world's newest police state. Australia reneged on their commitment
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
The SA Test team travelled to Pakistan where in De Kocks own words the bubble entailed going from the change room to a single floor in a Hotel which didn’t even have balconies . And yes he also had to endure IPL bubbles but gets paid 15 times more for an IPL season than he does in a year as a Test Cricketer . Felt he couldn’t do it all so made a decision. He also squashed rumors of a mental breakdown saying he was actually quite fine mentally but just wanted a break from the isolation. don’t buy the rumour that he retired because of the knee thingy otherwise he would have withdrawn from SA Cricket all formats which he hasn’t . A more apt reason is the one he himself put forward and the emotion around the birth of his first child probably the real reason . We already know he is fiercely defensive and a serious family man .Just ask Dave Warner so his own reason makes more sense than the social media speculation. I hope for Australia sakes they don’t get the same treatment in Pakistan that South Africa’s players did . May have a few retirements of your own . By comparison the England players were in a holiday camp during the Ashes and they still complained.
Jak
Guest
Says the guy who received an MBE for scoring less than 10 runs
Prez
Roar Rookie
It is hard to believe after an Ashes campaign the ECB shipped them off immediately on another overseas tour. That's on top of all the cricket they played last year. What makes it even harder is that the test team is struggling. If you are winning then can deal with other issues much better.
Tony
Roar Guru
All this batting, bowling, fielding, training, sweating, travelling, packing, un-packing, etc is becoming a real burden for today's multi million dollar cricketers. It's so demeaning, demanding and unfair. It's high time that all cricket series were decided on a computer games platform.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
I agree with 90% of what he says, but the bit where he lashes out at Australia for not splitting the Ashes over two summers is totally unreasonable. How can he blame CA when the ECB never even proposed it? It tells you all you need to know about how unreasonable the proposal was that the ECB didn’t entertain it as a serious option.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
That cancellation wasn’t to do with bubble fatigue, it was the concern that players could be stranded if infected (the rules requiring a negative test to enter Australia had just been passed and SA was having a bad outbreak). Concerns that the SA bubble wasn’t tight enough were also a factor (ironically in part due to England abandoning their tour over bubble concerns). So in a way it was the opposite of the bubble being too tight.
WINSTON
Roar Rookie
Yup, if memory serves me correctly, Australia canceled their South Africa series, because they don't want to travel. So their is some merit in what Collingwood says.
WINSTON
Roar Rookie
Well said Bazza
WINSTON
Roar Rookie
Well said Bazza
JJ
Guest
Give me a break. Back when the Ashes were born they went across in boats. Stayed for months, played timeless tests, and practically got paid nothing. The ASHES are special, beyond almost anything else in sports. That is totally pathetic, go give then a book on what their forefathers went through, appreciate the number which is embroidered on their shirt and understand what this particular contest is all about. I thought Collingwood was tough, he us just trying to save his job. Utterly pathetic. Hope we smash them 5 0 next year, and whilst in a bubble.
Gee
Roar Rookie
I think we have found the next man to lead Tennis Australia :silly:
Linphoma
Guest
Is Paul Collingwood a qualified medical professional to make these pronouncements? Isn't he somewhere in the West Indies on another interminable, meaningless ODI tour that ECB signed up for? Why doesn't he take a shot at broadcasters demanding content for punters like us...whoever is reading this.
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
Of course Collingwood would say this, he got awarded an MBE for a duck and seven runs.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
The touring requirements of cricket are way tougher, mentally, than probably any other sport. Most sports last an hour or two. Then the players get to decompress by having a party or whatever. The pressure isn’t on for long. Cricket lasts all day, often into the night and sometimes for 5 days at a time. It is really hard to switch off, arguably detrimental to do so. Long tours are hard. Being in a bubble makes them way harder. England were always going to lose this series. They shouldn’t be judged by normal standards. Medals would be a bit too much though.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
I see no issue with Collingwood coming out and saying what is clearly fact. Yes, people can criticise him for actually saying it and can say "just suck it up" (actually, I've been surprised about how little has been said about these issues and impact on performance). It's quite a tale of two extremes really; an England side constantly playing, including touring, and an Australian side that has had to deal with bubble pressure to a much lesser extent over two years. In normal times, such playing time/experience should be a plus; not sure it has worked out that way for England in covid-times. England were disappointing this series, but all credit to them for actually touring o/s, on multiple occasions, for lengthy periods.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Even if you thought this, why would you say it? He looks ridiculous
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Colly loves medal receptions. Like when he scored 7 at the Oval in 2005 and won an MBE. That was thoroughly deserved though. And the ticketape parade. Makes me wonder why Rob Quiney never got an Australia Day Award for his 9 at nearly a run a minute at the Gabba in 2012.
Rusty Brooks
Roar Rookie
Strange that he’s blaming Cricket Australia for not wanting to split the series over 2 summers, when the article says that the ECB never even put forward the idea to CA in the first place.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Yeah I don't know if the English boys would appreciate a participation medal, pretty sure that wouldn't be going straight to the pool room. No doubt Collingwood is trying to take some pressure off the team (and himself), but leaning on Covid bubbles as an excuse, but that only goes so far in a year-end review when the team have won just a single test in their last 14 outings. If I were the ECB and paying the likes of Rory Burns $1.1m, I'd be asking some rather searching questions of the playing and coaching staff. And not sure about using De Kock as an example of someone retiring because of bubble life. He is happy to "endure" IPL bubbles, but not SA test bubbles. There is also a fair amount of talk De Kock's retirement had a bit to do with his unwillingness to kneel for BLM at the T20 World Cup and the politics in SA cricket.