Colly will help us rise from the Ashes

England’s star all-rounder and fan favourite believes Paul Collingwood is the perfect man to step in and lead England’s Test side on their West Indies tour – but he warns that it will be no easy task to hit the heights again

Much has happened to the England team this winter and there is still more to come in the West Indies next month.

This has to be the start of something new and Paul Collingwood is the ideal man to step in and get things under way.

It has to be the start of a turnaround for the Test team, just like we had for the one-day side back in 2015, and that is a huge challenge I want to be a part of.

It was a bitterly disappointing Ashes campaign Down Under, but we have to learn from it and begin the job of rebuilding the team.

It will take time. Even the whiteball side took time to get to the point where we could win a World Cup, right. We had bumps in the road but stuck to our plan and backed the players to deliver.

We need to go on a similar journey with the Test team, with everybody fully committed to doing what is necessary to be among the best sides again.

Test cricket is my priority, and I want to work alongside Joe Root, the best man we could have as captain, to get us there.

It is why I thought long and hard about whether to go to the IPL or not,

and decided that this was not about money but about where my priorities are. It wouldn’t be fair on any team I signed up for if I wasn’t totally focused.

The Test team is where it is at and I want to give as much of my time and energy to that as possible.

The Test side will benefit more from me playing some county championship matches this summer and getting myself as best prepared as possible for the challenges of New Zealand and South Africa. Having Colly as the interim head coach for the start of this challenge is a huge bonus for us because he offers so much and already has good relationships to work from.

He has an infectious enthusiasm and passion for the game. And because he has been there and understands what we are going through, he translates it brilliantly to the players.

He is one of the toughest men I know and will demand the same level of hard work from us that he always puts in.

We will have a new permanent coach in due course, but with Ashley Giles, Chris Silverwood and Graham Thorpe losing their jobs, I want to pay respect to the work they put in for English cricket.