Paul Collingwood will continue to fight for his place in the England side despite being stripped of the Twenty20 captaincy.
Former Twenty20 skipper still wants to play for England
Paul Collingwood insists he will continue to fight for his place in the England side despite being stripped of the Twenty20 captaincy.
The all-rounder retired from Test cricket after the Ashes series last winter but continued to make himself available for limited-over internationals.
He then fell out of favour towards the end of England's World Cup campaign in Asia and then saw Stuart Broad usurp him as captain of the 20-over side.
But Collingwood, who led England to glory at the ICC World Twenty20 last year, is determined to keep playing despite the recent setbacks.
"I love playing for England. I love the environment. I love what we've created," he told the
Wisden Cricketer.
"It's just a great place to be and so I really lived the dream these last 10 years. And I want more of it. I want to be involved, I want to be playing."
Age
The 35-year-old admits that his age may start to become an issue with selectors but says he still feels able to perform at the highest level after recovering from knee surgery.
He added: "When you get older there's a lot more pressure. People start looking at your age.
"You have to be fitter than you've ever been because you can't give them an excuse to ignore you. But I feel fit, I feel sharp, all the desire is there, so I just need to score the runs that demand attention."
"I've just had an eight-week break and I haven't had such a long break since I started playing international cricket.
"It would have been nice if they (the England selectors) had waited and seen what I was like when I came back and then maybe made the decision after the first Twenty20s this summer.
"But, look, when people get sacked you're always going to have grumbles. I've got 100 per cent respect for (team director) Andy Flower and (Test captain) Andrew Strauss. I'm willing to fight for my place in the one-day and Twenty20 teams."
