PAUL COLLINGWOOD spoke of his England heartbreak last night after a dislocated shoulder shattered his dream of starring in Durham's first Test.

Collingwood, 26, will miss Zimbabwe's historic visit to the Riverside on June 5 after he was hurt in Durham's friendly with Lancashire on Wednesday.

The Shotley Bridge batsman may not return to action until July and has admitted he will not break into the Test line-up for the match in seven weeks' time. Collingwood said: "I think I'm going to be in a sling for at least six weeks.

"If I'd played in the Test at the Riverside, it would have been the proudest moment of my career.

"It's been my aim all my life to play Test cricket and to play for England as much as possible.

"Coming out here in a Test match in front of a home crowd would have been a dream come true, but that's not going to happen. It was an ambition to play Test cricket this year, but obviously I needed to score big runs and take a few wickets beforehand.

"I won't be able to do that now, and what's really disappointing is that it's come at such a bad time.

"Whenever I have an injury, the first thing I think is, 'How long will I be out for?'

"With this, I dived for a ball at straight mid-wicket, but I got it wrong and the shoulder came out straightaway. As soon as I banged on the floor and I knew the shoulder wasn't in its usual place, I was worried about how serious it was."

Collingwood, England's 12th man for the second Test with Australia in Perth last winter, was expected to figure in Nasser Hussain's five-day plans this season.

Yesterday, Hussain told Northern Echo Sport that Collingwood and Durham colleague Stephen Harmison could make huge international strides in 2003.

Now, however, Collingwood is facing a lay-off after damaging his left shoulder at Old Trafford.

He said: "The injury hasn't been properly assessed yet. I went to Accident and Emergency after doing it, and it was four hours before they put it back in.

"I need to get more scans done. Until we find out what damage the dislocation has caused, we won't know for sure how long I'll be out.

"Fortunately, I'm in the game all the time, but unfortunately that means injuries can be picked up quickly. Now I just have to wait to find out what the scans come up with. Hopefully, there won't be too much damage.

"I'll just have to make sure I come back strongly and work myself back into the England picture.

"I have to look forward to the one-dayers now, and hopefully get back into the squad and go on from there. I have to try to put the Test thing out of my mind."

Meanwhile, Durham seamer Mark Davies has been told by a specialist to rest for ten days after he suffered a recurrence of his lung problem at Old Trafford.