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Page last updated at 15:02 GMT, Sunday, 21 February 2010

Paul Collingwood gets England vice-captain role

Paul Collingwood
Collingwood has captained England in 24 Twenty20 games, winning nine

Paul Collingwood has been named England vice-captain for the Bangladesh tour.

Batsman Alastair Cook will captain the team as regular skipper Andrew Strauss takes a break from the game.

England will play two Tests and three one-day internationals in Bangladesh, with Cook set to revert to vice-captain when Strauss returns to the team.

All-rounder Collingwood, 33, is England's Twenty20 captain, a role he took up in May 2009, nine months after resigning as one-day skipper.

Collingwood, who is Durham's vice-captain, succeeded Michael Vaughan in June 2007 as England one-day captain but stepped down from the position, admitting the extra workload had affected his performances for the national side.

Prior to Collingwood's appointment as vice-captain for the Bangladesh tour there had been speculation that former England captain Kevin Pietersen might get the nod.

Meanwhile, Collingwood remains in confident mood despite seeing his team slip to a four-wicket Twenty20 defeat against Pakistan.

We've done some fantastic stuff in the last few games and the boys should be very proud

Paul Collingwood

That tied the series at 1-1 and was England's last competitive match before the World Twenty20 in April and May.

"We've done some fantastic stuff in the last few games and the boys should be very proud," said Collingwood.

"They've been working on their skills and we feel we are moving forward in this format of the game."

England reduced Pakistan to 78-5 after 13 overs but Abdul Razzaq destroyed them with an unbeaten 46 from 18 balls, maintaining an unfortunate record that they have never successfully defended a total of 150 or less in Twenty20 internationals.

"There's no shame in losing like that, our two performances have been very, very good here," insisted Collingwood.

"In Twenty20 cricket it only takes one batsman to have an exceptional innings and that's exactly what he did. It was pure hitting and very hard to bowl at him.

"But we are in a good groove. We will take this form and go into the World Cup with confidence.

"It was a good series. KP (Kevin Pietersen) was brilliant and is back in form now so that is a positive for us."

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Collingwood paid tribute to Yorkshire seamer Ajmal Shahzad, who took two wickets in his first over in international cricket but was hit for two sixes in his final over as Razzaq clinched victory.

"He's come in against the world's best Twenty20 side and it's not easy when you're bowling against guys like that," added the captain.

"But he's got the talent and he certainly has the pace and the aggression to go with it.

"When you've got a combination like that you learn all the time. He'll learn a hell of a lot from this experience. I know he enjoyed it, which is a good thing.

"He certainly didn't shy away from it. He's got all the attributes."

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik admitted that victory was crucial for his team, having been whitewashed 3-0 in the Tests and 5-0 in the one-day internationals on their recent tour of Australia.

"We really needed this win after the series we had in Australia," he said. "This is a great start as we prepare to defend our title at this year's ICC World T20 Cup.

"Razzaq was just awesome. England set us a very good total. We didn't start off well, but Razzaq batted really well to get us this game. The way he has come back, I am just speechless and very happy about it."



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