Collingwood’s century gives Durham belief
NEARLY 12 years to the day after his last century against Derbyshire, Paul Collingwood is still churning them out. Already his unbeaten 127 looks like it could have the potential to be a match-winner.
If his run-scoring continues to defy his age, Collingwood looked every one of his 41 years at the close of play.
Barely able to walk down the stairs, his ankle wrapped in ice-filled cling-film, there was no disguising he had been made to work hard.
Having helped his team to 376-7 on day one, the Riversiders should end their first innings with a total from which they can dictate matters.
“It took me, I would say, 20-30 balls to figure out the pitch,” said Collingwood, who made 112 against Derbyshire the last time Durham were in County Championship Division Two, on September 1, 2005.
“It felt a bit two-paced so I had to figure out what shots would work on there. It didn’t feel easy.
“Then I just found a rhythm and from that point it was much better.
“Sometimes it felt as though it was flat, sometimes two or three balls would seem to do all sorts.
“It’s doing the odd silly thing. We had one ball that literally didn’t bounce, it went straight along the floor, and another that hit the other side of a crack and nearly took my head off!
“Inbetween time it’s a decent pitch. It’s coming onto the bat quite nicely so you can get some good timing. When you get a ball like that you have to blank it out because you know it’s not consistent.
“My partnership with Richo (Michael Richardson) seemed to get the momentum going our way a little bit and Rhino (Ryan Pringle) was quite quick scoring. When Coggers (Paul Coughlin) comes in I think, ‘Oh no, I’m going to have to run!’
“He brings energy to the partnership and pinching the odd single here or there or turning one into two really puts the opposition under pressure. It was a great partnership.”
What Collingwood did not enjoy was leaving out Graham Clark, partly to make space for Cameron Steel. The 21-year-old continued his upward curve with 72 after Keaton Jennings was out to the first ball of the day.
“It doesn’t get any easier when you turn up and you’ve got to leave someone of the calibre of Clark out of the side but from a personal point of view it’s quite nice to still score runs,” said Collingwood.
“Steel’s progression has been a great story this season. At the start of the year he didn’t really have a pull shot. He looks like he’s got the right attitude and desire to bat for long periods of time. He ticks a hell of a lot of boxes.
“Him being exposed to important positions in the team and pressure situations looks like it’s done him a lot of good. It’s exactly what we need.
“He looks dogged but he’s timing the ball better and better, hitting it really powerfully.”
Coughlin’s running between the wickets certainly added to Collingwood’s end-of-play aches and pains, but the all-rounder’s 68 was crucial in lifting Durham from an iffy 217-6.
“He likes to get on with it so he just naturally brings that same tempo into four-day cricket – and he hits the ball bloody hard!”
Collingwood said of a player who hit form with the bat during the Twenty20 competition, topping Durham’s averages with 41.
“He’s not just a quick runner, he’s a good striker of the ball so if you don’t get it right to him he can score quickly.”
Durham will be hoping their last three wickets can nudge the score past 400 and put real pressure on the Peakites.