He May Be an Ordinary Joe But Collingwood Can Still Deliver Goods

Jim Rohn, a motivational counselor to American business, fields more than enough desperate phone calls these days without turning his attention to the insecurities of England's one-day cricket captain but his downbeat advice that, "if you are not willing to risk the unusual, then you will have to settle for the ordinary" encapsulated Paul Collingwood's return to some sort of form before his home crowd yesterday.

It was Kevin Pietersen who was left to glory in the unusual, his about-turn, left-handed sixes leaving Scott Styris incredulous and reviving the debate about whether the tactic should be outlawed. There was also unusual quality in the innings of Owais Shah, his 49 from 25 balls closing out England's innings in scintillating fashion. Collingwood settled for the art of the ordinary - a reliance upon what he knows. As Rohn would advise, there is nothing wrong with that as long as you do it well.

As far as the England coach, Peter Moores, will be concerned, ordinary was what mattered yesterday. Collingwood's first half-century of the summer was overshadowed by the time that England came to rest on 307 for five but it was an innings that promises England stability for the rest of the one-day series. He had at least escaped the doubts and inhibitions that had dogged him throughout the Test series. He later celebrated in the field with vintage Collingwood running out James Marshall with a direct hit from backward point.

Collingwood does not always play within narrow parameters. He batted more forcefully in the one-day series in New Zealand in the winter, observing Brendon McCullum's robust stroke play and concluding that he could adapt some of it to his own game. But, by and large, he remains one of life's laborers. You might imagine that the Riverside Health Club, which dominates the ground, was built to keep him occupied on his days off.

His 64 was not particularly fluent and there was only a limited sense of a batsman hitting the ball cleanly again, but first Ian Bell and now Collingwood have escaped from their Test match tribulations in the space of two one-day matches. It would be unfair to chide an innings of 64 in as many balls; it sums up how expectations of batsmen have risen to unfair levels since the advent of Twenty 20.

While Collingwood was at the crease, New Zealand's best two one-day bowlers were attempting to strangle England in mid-innings: Daniel Vettori's left-arm spin and Kyle Mills' intelligent back-of-a-length second spell. It was a period of cat and mouse but, just as Collingwood imagined that he might lead the assault in the closing overs, he chopped on Vettori, trying to run him behind square and being deceived by the change of angle.

England's one-day captain left angry with himself but his contribution will have been enough to rid himself of the sleepless nights. A captain's authority diminishes if his own game is not functioning smoothly and his first fifty of the summer begins to address that. There is still the little matter of no hundreds in his last 12 Tests but a fortnight of honest-to-goodness endeavors against New Zealand in the one-day series should be enough to preserve his place in the first Test against South Africa next month. As he remarked: "The one-dayers have come at the right time."

Collingwood came in at 95 for three with the innings almost at its mid-point and New Zealand doing a decent job of curbing the run flow. Styris toyed with him, first ball, by bowling an off-spinner but he got it over mid-on for four and nudged the next one fine for another boundary. Two balls, eight runs and already he could breath a little more easily. From then on he innovated, he manipulated and late in his innings he even hauled Michael Mason over cow corner for six.

Collingwood took four wickets in the final collapse as the Kiwis were bowled out for 193, a successful example of a man whom Rohn might cast as an Ordinary Joe doing a good, ordinary job. But it was recognizable Collingwood, a batsman reacquainting himself with his game. And England - not just Collingwood - will sleep a lot more calmly for that.