Paul Collingwood Talks Ashes, James Anderson, Coaching and Four-Day Tests

Paul Collingwood has told Bleacher Report that England have the skill set to wrestle the Ashes urn back from Australia this summer, with James Anderson the man to spearhead the attack.

England are currently in the middle of a three-Test series with the West Indies, before heading home to face New Zealand, but some would be forgiven for casting an eye towards late summer and the arrival of Australia.

Michael Clark’s Australia will bring the urn with them, having thrashed England in the 2013/14 series. That mauling is not easily forgotten, with the sight of Mitchell Johnson blowing the England batting away with 90mph+ howitzers a mesmerising one, but the conditions in England will be vastly different.

Colllingwood, a veteran of 68 Tests, four Ashes series and a member of the famous winning side at the Oval in 2005, feels the swing-friendly conditions in England will help level the playing field.

"If you look at current form—it is easy to look at the winter which was predominantly one-day cricket so that's not as relevant—England have played some decent Test cricket in the past few years,” Collingwood, speaking as part of Slazenger's "Congratulations Jimmy" flag nationwide tour, told Bleacher Report. “Yes they got a hammering down in Australia, but that’s not to say that in English conditions we can’t cause Australia some problems.

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“Confidence is a huge thing, Australia are playing well in all forms of the game at the moment and their confidence will be extremely high. But I guess it will all come down to how well we start in the Ashes.

“But England have a chance, of course, the players have got good skill sets in English conditions and that will put any team under pressure.”

A man likely to spearhead the attack is Anderson, who is on a high after passing Sir Ian Botham to become England’s all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests.

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He’s done it! James Anderson is England's highest Test wicket-taker in history – surpassing Sir Ian Botham’s record. pic.twitter.com/eiQ3QBRfRY

— BBC Radio 5 live (@bbc5live) April 17, 2015"

Anderson has spent over a decade honing his trade on the international scene, but Collingwood feels the 32-year-old has plenty left in the tank to scale even greater heights.

“I reckon 450+ is a pretty obvious number, he could even be pushing for 500,” Collingwood said of a man who went past Botham’s record of 383 wickets in Antigua this month. “He is still extremely fit, he still has the wonderful skills and the pace.

"He’s experienced, reads the game well and is still looking to improve so I can only imagine he will get at least 60 or 70 on top of that.”

Anderson was far from the finished article when he emerged on the Test scene in 2003, he was dropped and spent some time in the wilderness, but he continued to learn his trade and Collingwood feels that is what sets him apart.

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Jimmy was a bowler who came onto the scene and was not the complete package so had to learn his way on the international scene, a lot of bowlers have had to do that. They get in and have got to realise that they have to improve or find some more skills and Jimmy did exactly that. He has become a better bowler every single year.

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Collingwood is in the twilight of his playing career, although he did show Father Time he’s not ready to bow out yet with a five-wicket haul and a century for Durham in the season opener against Somerset, and has his eye on coaching.

He cut his teeth with Scotland at the World Cup, but would relish the chance to help England if the opportunity arose—although he is aware that he will not get the job on reputation alone.

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I am a huge English cricket fan; I enjoy being involved playing County Cricket at the moment but if an opportunity came up in the future to help England, then of course I would have to look at it.

I want them to do well, and if they thought I could help them out in some way, I would be more than happy to do that, and would relish the opportunity.

But you do not have a God-given right just because you have played for England in the past to walk into a coaching role with England.

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There has been change at the top of English cricket, with Colin Graves appointed chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Graves, who will officially take up his role on May 15, has already made some outspoken comments—including floating the prospect of trimming Test matches from five to four days.

“Interesting” was Collingwood’s response to the idea, but he feels Graves deserves credit for looking to effect change.

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At least he is looking at different ways to improve the game. He has come up with different ideas, some will work some won't. But all these things have to be looked at. Five-day Tests over the past 10 years, scoring rates have gone up and there are a lot more results nowadays so it’s an idea that is not totally unwarranted.

He’s trying to change a few things and has a few ideas to take the game forward in England which can only be good.

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Paul Collingwood was speaking as part of Slazenger’s "Congratulations Jimmy" flag nationwide tour. Slazenger is celebrating Jimmy Anderson becoming England’s all-time leading test wicker by giving 10 percent off its entire cricket range. Visit store.slazenger.com and follow @SlazengerSport for more details.