“They should be told ‘well done’ for even going”: Paul Collingwood supports English players for going through Ashes 2021-22 despite lot of mental fatigue

Ashes 2021-22: England’s assistant coach Paul Collingwood has said that the English players deserve appreciation for playing.

The Ashes 2021-22 was a nightmare for the English cricket team. They were thrashed by Australia by a margin of 4-0, and there has been a lot of criticism for the side. Players like Joe Root and Ben Stokes opted out of the IPL to focus on red-ball cricket. It is also said that there will be changes in the English team going forward.

Amidst all the criticism, Paul Collingwood has given his backing to the players. The assistant coach pointed out the mental well-being of the players on the tour. The majority of the English players played in IPL, whereas they also were in the bubble of the T20 World cup. He agrees that the team did not play well, but there were genuine reasons.

“I don’t think people have understood the impact and the effects that these bubbles have had,” Collingwood said.

“Going to the Ashes off the back of a tough bubble in Dubai, I think was literally one step too far.”

“Take someone like Chris Woakes, the most loveable and down-to-earth guy. I have seen him in some serious mental states.”

Ashes 2021-22: Paul Collingwood supports English players

The English cricket team was forced to do a hard quarantine in Gold Coast. They only got a couple of days to practice ahead of the first test in Brisbane. Collingwood admitted that the English did a lot of mistakes, but the situations were not ideal for them.

“It wasn’t club cricket that these players were coming from. Then there’s just two days of preparation before going into the Ashes,” Collingwood said.

“Yes, we made mistakes, 100%. We made selection mistakes, we made toss mistakes, but the fact we actually turned up and agreed to a five-match Ashes series, the guys should be given medals for that.”

Paul Collingwood said that it would have been ideal to play two games in 2021 and three games in 2022. However, he blamed the Australian team that they just wanted to win the Ashes, and they didn’t want the ideal English team to play the series.

“It would’ve been much better if we’d done two matches and then three next year. That would’ve been a great compromise,” Collingwood added.

“But no, Australia were not bothered that they were going to receive an England team who were mentally fatigued, they just wanted to get the product out there.”

“They just wanted the Ashes. These guys deserve medals, not criticism. They should be told ‘well done’ for even going.”

England drew the test in Sydney, whereas they lost all the remaining games. Travis Head was the highest run-scorer of Ashes with 357 runs, whereas Starc was the highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets. Joe Root was the best English batter, whereas Wood was the best English bowler.