Colly: Go steady with Freddie
by RivalsDM
It seems the 30-year-old is fit enough after having a fourth operation on his left ankle last October. But his form with bat and ball could not be more contrasting.
The Lancashire ace cannot seem to buy a run in county cricket having scored just 68 runs in seven innings in all forms of the game.
He has bagged a pair in the current County Championship Division One match against Durham at Old Trafford.
But he has also taken seven wickets with the prospect of more to come on Friday's third day.
If England want to play him as a bowler and bat at number seven or lower then he is ready. If they want to play him as a genuine all-rounder then he is not after three consecutive four-day ducks.
Collingwood said: "I am not an England selector. But from what I have seen this week he is pretty much back to his best with the ball.
"What I have faced over the past few days has been scary stuff and some exceptional bowling.
"He has certainly enjoyed that wind up his backside this week and ran in really hard. It's been impressive. He has bowled at around about 90mph and got the ball to shape away a bit.
"Like Freddie always does he hits areas that are very difficult to score off, never mind defend.
"Whether he has had enough overs under his belt, who knows? You will have to ask Freddie himself how the ankle feels.
"We do have to be careful. Obviously Freddie has had a few operations on that ankle and we don't want to rush him back too soon."
On the batting issue Collingwood continued: "I am sure he is a little concerned with the batting and he would probably have liked a few more runs than he has got. But he is one of those types of batters who can click with just one shot.
"He is destructive on his day. He can get one ball out of the middle and then it just clicks again. I am sure that it is some of the wickets that he has played on as well.
"This time of year they are difficult to play on. I am not trying to make excuses for him but there are some difficult conditions for batting out there.
"I can tell you that having batted on them myself over the past few weeks. Hopefully that big innings for him is just around the corner."
Collingwood's own form is probably worse. He has scored just 32 runs in five innings in all forms of the game. His highest score was a 25 against Derbyshire in the Friends Provident Trophy last Friday.
He continued: "I have never really got going in the last few games. I have only played four or five games for Durham and have not yet made a contribution for them.
"That is perhaps more disappointing than getting form ahead of the Test match. I am sure that everybody has got me down as the first one off the team sheet but I am a battler.
"It is disappointing not to score runs but the big ones could be just around the corner."
Collingwood expects England to beat New Zealand in the forthcoming three-match series to be played at Lord's, Old Trafford and Trent Bridge.
He also acknowledged that the involvement of a number of the Kiwi squad in the ongoing Indian Premier League could have an impact.
Captain Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum have all arrived in England late after their stint in India.
Collingwood continued: "I wouldn't say that you expect to beat anybody at home but we will be disappointed if we don't beat New Zealand.
"They proved in New Zealand that they are a very hard team to beat, especially the way they bat all the way down.
"Vettori coming in at eight and McCullum just doing whatever he wants to do at seven.
"But hopefully we have got the attack to get through them."
On the IPL issue, he added: "It depends whether they come back and score runs immediately. England is one of those places where you have to get used to the conditions.
"That may be an advantage for us but they may also come back from the IPL in a lot of form too."
Collingwood was speaking at Old Trafford to promote ticket sales for the second Test match that begins on May 23.
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