One of England’s finest players

Yes, a formidable fighter’s instinct enabled Collingwood to overcome technical deficiencies to compile a career that included 4,259 runs, 96 catches and 17 wickets.

But to suggest the Durham all-rounder is merely a workmanlike performer adept at extracting every ounce of effort and ability from his skill set is to do him an immense disservice.

You don’t play in 68 Tests, average more than 40 and contribute to three separate Ashes series victories unless you’re an exceptional talent.

Having announced his retirement from the Test arena on Wednesday night, Collingwood leaves a plethora of memories to admire.

There was the century against the West Indies at Riverside, when he became the first Durham player to score a Test hundred on the county’s ground, and the double hundred in Australia during 2007’s illfated Ashes tour when he single-handedly took on an attack that was enjoying one of its greatest triumphs.

But perhaps Collingwood’s biggest legacy is that he was integral to the transformation of the England team from a flaky middle-ranking side prone to regular collapses in both the middle and the field to a well-drilled unit boasting the mental toughness required to beat Australia on their own soil.

Two aspects of the North-Easterner’s play in particular proved to have long-lasting effects. His fielding was the first, and for all that he has excelled with both bat and ball, the enduring image of Collingwood’s Test career will be one of the many occasions when he leapt skyward at point to pluck a fast-flying catch out of the air.

When he arrived on the Test scene, fielding was seen as something of an optional extra. The advent of Twenty20 cricket has improved standards the world over, but Collingwood was at the vanguard of a sea change in England’s approach in the field that has reaped huge rewards in the last four or five years.

Having marvelled at Collingwood’s athleticism, a new generation of players have emerged who view agility, concentration and the sharp execution of fielding skills as an integral part of the game.

In addition, Collingwood’s steeliness, determination and indefatigable will to win has helped inspire a marked shift in the prevailing attitude within the England squad.

Results have obviously helped as well, but in the past, too many of England’s players wilted at the first sign of adversity or pressure.

Collingwood has carved a career out of meeting adversity head on, first disproving those who said he would never be anything more than a slapdash oneday player, then repeatedly producing a timely innings to salvage his career when the knives of the critics and selectors were out for him.

The image of the nuggety fighter might downplay the extent of the 34-year-old’s abilities, but there is an element of truth to it and it has undoubtedly contributed to a gradual toughening of the England side.

In a player like Alastair Cook, who has been the undoubted star of the current series in Australia, it is possible to see a fighter who has surely drawn inspiration from Collingwood’s lead. The same can be said of the recently rejuvenated Ian Bell.

Here in the North-East, of course, Collingwood’s impact has been even more obvious. He was the first Durham player to make it to the Test team, and while Stephen Harmison would surely have won international honours anyway, speak to the likes of Liam Plunkett, Graham Onions and Phil Mustard and it is obvious how much they admired the fact that someone born in Shotley Bridge and raised close to Consett had made it all the way to the Test team.

Collingwood was the trail blazer for much of the talent that has emerged from Durham’s Academy in recent years. Not bad for someone who has been forced to confound expectation at every turn.

IT’S shaping up to be a strange transfer window for the Premier League’s clubs, with money too tight to mention and most managers looking for cutprice bargains or shortterm loans.

The global financial situation is clearly a factor – even overseas billionaires get twitchy when their assets are shrinking in value – but despite being much derided when they were first floated by Michel Platini, perhaps UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations are also having an effect.

The rules, which are due to come into force next season, compel clubs to spend only what they earn, or at least to break even over a rolling three-year period if they want to play in the Champions League or Europa League.

Quite how Manchester City will fit that criteria remains to be seen, but after excessive spending in the past, it appears as though Chelsea and Manchester United are moving much closer towards a financial model that at least reflects a modicum of reality.

NOT content with making a mess of the World Cup bidding process, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has set up a task force to investigate whether the current system of three points for a win and one point for a draw is the most effective model.

Goodness knows what he’s planning instead, but if his past record is anything to go by, it will no doubt be ridiculous.

Yet maybe it’s time to scrap the whole idea of points?

Why not play all the games in a season, rank all the teams according to how they’ve done – and then have a secret vote and announce Russia as the winners anyway?