Paul Collingwood backs Eoin Morgan to lead England to Champions Trophy glory
England are two wins away from Champions Trophy success.
Paul Collingwood reckons his time as the only man to lift an ICC trophy for England might be coming to an end.
The all-rounder captained England to glory in the World Twenty20 in 2010, the only major tournament the country has ever won.
That could be about to change as Eoin Morgan is spearheading a charge towards the Champions Trophy, with England winning all three group games on their way to the semi-finals.
Collingwood, who scored 5,092 one-day international runs in 197 matches, believes Morgan’s men are the favourites on home soil.
“They have got a great chance,” he told Press Association Sport. “We have all been watching the side over the last two years, they are a powerful, dynamic team and I would say they would be favourites.
“They have proven themselves over the last two years, they have been all the way around the world and won games.
“If you look at the side you haven’t just got one matchwinner in there now, pretty much the full line-up are matchwinners and if they can perform on the day they can win the game for England. That is a great position to be in.
“They have been favourites from the start. Opposition don’t like playing against them any more, with the explosive batting they have got and recently also the way they have bowled.
“They have every chance now and let’s hope Eoin Morgan becomes the second person to do it.”
England’s campaign has gone as well as expected with group-stage wins over Bangladesh, New Zealand and Australia.
The one blot on the copybook has been the form of opener Jason Roy, who has scored just 18 runs in three innings, continuing a poor start to the summer which has seen him register a top score of 20 against Ireland in May.
Roy has a strong pedigree for England, having scored three centuries and nine half-centuries in 45 innings and Collingwood backs the 26-year-old to come good.
“We have always had a tendency in the past to put someone in at the top of the order who is an attacking batsman, we come back to home conditions, the ball nibbles around a bit, he fails and people say we should swap it,” he said.
“Jason Roy is a world-class player. Eoin Morgan and the management team are banking on him getting his form back, but if he wasn’t to play they have great options in Sam Billings or Jonny Bairstow.
“He is out of form but he is a world-class player. It only takes one innings, if he gets the chance hopefully it is the next one.”
