Cricket-Collingwood to stand in as England coach for West Indies series

[December 23, 2021] (Reuters) -Former England captain Paul Collingwood will stand in as head coach for England's five-match Twenty20 International series against West Indies next month, the country's cricket board (ECB) said on Thursday.

England's Paul Collingwood. Mandatory Credit: Action Images/ Jason O'Brien

Regular head coach Chris Silverwood will take a break following the ongoing Ashes series against Australia, with Marcus Trescothick joining Collingwood as an assistant coach. Eoin Morgan will captain the squad.

Collingwood was at the T20 World Cup earlier this year with England before going to the Ashes, but flew back to Britain last week.

Of the 16 players named in the squad, 11 travelled to the World Cup, with uncapped left-arm seamer David Payne earning a maiden call-up to the England T20I team.

"We have selected a strong squad with some serious batting power and a balanced attack as we begin preparations ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia," Collingwood said.

"The World Cup is less than a year away and there will be increased opportunities for the squad in the absence of those players who are with the Ashes squad."

The series will begin on Jan. 22 and will conclude on Jan. 30.

Squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Tymal Mills, David Payne, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, James Vince.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

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