DURHAM'S Twenty20 campaign continues tonight in the first of a double header on the road, and all-rounder Paul Collingwood is confident that he can bring a winning mentality to the Dynamos.
Collingwood, who captained England to Twenty20 World Cup glory last year, returned to domestic action last Friday in Durham's defeat to Warwickshire Bears.
The manner of defeat was in stark contrast to Durham's County Championship form, but Collingwood is aiming to help the Dynamos compete on all three levels this term.
"If you could put your finger on why we haven't performed as well as we can in Twenty20 then we would have done it a long time ago," he said.
"It is a completely different concept to four-day cricket. The boys definitely have the skills to get the three disciplines working at the same time.
"In the past Durham have usually batted well but bowled poorly and vice-versa. We need to get those concepts working well at the same time and hopefully that's something I can help the team with.
"As for the team having difficulty in switching from the four-day game to a condensed version like Twenty20, I don't think that's the case. It's the way modern-day sport is these days. Chopping and changing is part of the game."
Collingwood has been named as part of Geoff Cook's 13-man squad that faces Northants at Wantage Road tonight, before travelling to Derby to play the Falcons at the County Ground tomorrow.
From there, Durham will play another four T20 games, only returning to County Championship action at the end of the month.
Durham's victory against Lancashire last week propelled the 2009 champions to the top of the league, and Collingwood predicts that the shorter game will not derail their title bid.
"We have made a great start to the County Championship but now we have this run of Twenty20 games," he said.
"I don't believe that if our form in the latter carries on in the same way it has it would slightly dent our morale when we get back to the four-day game.
"We're going to get it right in the T20 version. It's something that we're desperate to do as there's some huge prizes to be won. Hopefully we can get some wins under our belt."
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