LONDON: 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.

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 left-arm seamer David Payne and all-rounder George Garton the only uncapped players included.

“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.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2021