Colly ready for Bore War: "I love to annoy South Africans"

PAUL COLLINGWOOD is ready for the final battle of the Bore War. As England prepare for Thursday’s final Test against South Africa, Durham’s dogged Determinator grins: “I might bore a few people but it’s a job. And it’s a job I enjoy. And I love to annoy the opposition.”

And annoy them he has. England go into the last chance saloon at the Wanderers “Bull Ring” in Johannesburg knowing a draw will secure a shock 1-0 series triumph – largely thanks to Collingwood’s obdurate attitude at the crease. After twice helping England to last-wicket draws, he says: “We’re happy with where we are at the minute, but if we can get that draw or a win, that’d be magic for us.

“I’ve always been a fighter, ever since growing up with my brother in my early teens. I will always go out there and fight. This whole team has shown that resilience. Obviously you need flair and genius at times, but in Test cricket resilience is so important.

"Getting a draw when the other side are winning can be vital. It really hurts the opposition. And for me, staying out there for four hours and getting 40 can be better than a hundred.”

Collingwood, described by coach Andy Flower as “a typical British bulldog” after yet another match saving innings in Cape Town last week, has been central to England’s trio of last wicket stands – the first against Australia in Cardifff last summer, then twice against South Africa in the first and third Tests of this absorbing series.

I enjoyed a net with Collingwood last summer (see picture) and he remains the most approachable of the England players. And his resolve remains undimmed after three months on safari surviving record-breaking temperatures, numerous injuries and a wild Dale Steyn in Cape Town.

The most consistent of England’s batters – he got 50 and 26 not out to aid survival in Centurion, 91 in Durban’s innings triumph then 19 and 40 off 188 balls of stoic resistance in Cape Town – simply refuses to accept his body is struggling to cope with the endless strain of international cricket.

He has delayed the operation on his dislocated shoulder for eight years – “I can’t afford to take three months out” – and still needs the odd cortisone injection to clear things up. He has been having ice treatment on his back problems which have eased since early in the tour but he dislocated his left index finger warming up in Durban three weeks ago and was wearing two large strips of adhesive tape on his left inner thigh at nets yesterday.

But there he was today, netting like a madman. He got hit on that left finger by Graham Onions but shrugged it off and batted on. Then he bowled at full pace for an hour, beating the bat as many times as any of England’s quicker bowlers.

The British Bulldog? “Andy can describe me however he wishes,” grins Collingwood, “My innings out here have been very special. Centurion was good and in Cape Town, I always had the belief we could do it.

“It was such a big game for us. It’s hard to measure these innings. They’re not about runs, it’s about the time you spent in the middle. The attitude you show to the other players, the balls you face.

“I think those innings are worth a hundred, it may not come across that way. To get over the line we way we have done in those two games was special.

“Those innings give me more pleasure than some hundreds. I’m sure Ian Bell has discovered that. He scored elegantly for 140 in Durban but I’m sure when he came off in Cape Town with 78 after four hours, it was even better.

“He was under pressure a couple of games ago, to show that mental strength will mean a lot to him.

"This is a huge week for us. To win this series would mean so much.”

Collingwood survived being given out first ball in Cape Town, thanks to the new-fangled review system. He said: “It’s good for the game. It will improve the game in the future. But at time it can be frustrating with all the stoppages.”

If groundsman Chris Scott does what he’s been told and leaves a little grass on the No5 strip out here on Friday, Colly may just find himself bowling a real spell for the first time in this series when Stuart Broad, Onions and Jimmy Anderson tire.

Bowling at something close to full pace for the first time in weeks at nets this morning, he said: “I feel very comfortable, but my full pace is what you might call medium. Usually when there is a bit more in the wicket, the last person they’ll turn to is me! We’ve got the guys with the skill to swing it.

“When I get the ball we tend to be in a bit of strife, I hope I don’t get too much bowling here.”

Colly famously tends to be at the other end when Kevin Pietersen is playing his best cricket but with the South African-born batsman struggling, Collingwood insists: “KP scored nice runs in Centurion. I think we always look at KP and think he should be doing it every match. He’s sort of a genius, if he goes a couple of games without runs, the pressure comes on. I’m sure he will produce something in this game.”

And then we return to his favourite topic. Staying power. He says: “To have this kind of resilience when you’re under the pump is a great strength to have in a team. You need your flair, your bits of genius, but we’ve shown in the last six months, we’ve got it in the locker if we need it.

“And we’re finding more and more players who have that resilience in our team as this tour goes on – like Belly in Cape Town.

“South Africa have outplayed us quite a lot in the sessions but we’ve got that strength. It’s an important part of Test cricket to get a draw from a game you might lose. It takes a lot out of the opposition.

“We feel refreshed after Cape Town. Andy Flower and Andy Strauss have identified times when we can recharge the batteries. It’s important after two tough Tests. The last two days in training, we’ve shown a lot of energy. This week means a lot of us.

“It was nice to have a couple of days break but we have to come out and play. We can’t sit back and rely on this position. It’s a huge week for us. We want to go away winning the series.

“I’m just enjoying my game. But those situations, I really love.“

From the highest press box in cricket, Matt Prior insists he won't be a 'nearly man' against the country of his birth

ENGLAND are in Johannesburg. I am writing from the highest cricket press box in the world at The Wanderers, the impressive "Bull Ring" south of South Africa's crime and commerce capital.

Johannesburg is 5,000 feet above sea level. This press box (see picture) is another couple of hundred feet above that.

And today we have Matt Prior insisting England won’t end up being “the nearly men” when they take on the land of his birth this week.

Before the decisive fourth and final Test at The Wanderers starts on Thursday, Prior growls: “We are here to win this Test, not hold on and hope to scrape through, going for a draw.

“We want to go to the airport with a 2-0 in this series. That would be a dream come true. We would have beaten two of the best sides in the world in back-to-back Test series. We aren’t here to be the nearly men.

“We don’t want to go home saying we nearly did it. That we drew the series. We will compete hard. Look for winning situations.”

But a draw is all England need to wrap up a 1-0 win, having taken the second Test in Durban by an innings and drawn – by a nerve-jangling single wicket – in Centurion and Cape Town.

But first Prior and his team mates must get used to coming back up to Johannesburg, where he was born 27 years ago.

Aged eight, the Wanderers, Africa’s biggest cricket venue with a capacity of 34,000, was where he watched his first big cricket game. He recalls: “Yup, it was right here. And I was so excited. I went rushing up to Kepler Wessels and Hansie Cronje for their autographs. They walked straight past me. Blanked me.

“That’s why I always vowed every since never to turn down a young kid who wants my autograph.”

But that doesn’t mean the man educated at Brighton College – he left South Africa soon after the anecdote above – is naturally acclimatised to the altitude and heat of the Highveld.

After an extended session with wicketkeeping coach Bruce French, Prior said: “It’s unbelievable, there’s no oxygen for a start. We could feel our lungs burning in the warm-up. We’ve been at sea level for a long time in Durban and Cape Town.

“But the physical fitness we’ve done should put is in good stead. We should be fine.

“The ball flies up here. The odd one comes through and hits the gloves harder than normal because the air is thin. You have to adapt to it. I had a long session with Frenchy, I have to get used to it.

“It would obviously be a fabulous achievement to beat Australia and South Africa in successive series but it’s important not to look too far ahead.

“What we have done well is break the game down, ball by ball, session by session on this tour. Sometimes, before you ball a bowl in anger, you look too far ahead.

“We start with the first ball, 0-0, making sure we don’t get too far head of ourselves. We want to go home saying we won the one-day series and the Test series.”

England look set to field an unchanged side for the entire epic showdown – the first time the selectors haven’t fiddled in a four Test series since 1884. Prior admits: “It does play a part having a settled team. Guys feel comfortable in their roles. You go out with the same eleven for a few games in a row and you do have that camaraderie.

“But I would emphasise this is a very tight squad from 1 to 16. The guys who haven’t played have been working even harder than us. They have added to the team, it shows the environment we are working in now.

“Those guys are working very hard to get into the team and it adds to this effort.

“The South Africans have come hard all series. That won’t change here. They’re going to be fighting to win this Test. That’s something we will be ready for.

“What their team will be won’t concern us. We’ll concentrate on putting ourselves in winning positions throughout this Test match.”

Prior himself is in good form with the gloves and after a quiet start at Centurion he’s scored valuable fifties in Durban (61) and Cape Town (78).

He said: “It’s been a weird series for me individually with the bat. I managed to get a few important scores at vital times. That’s always a great feeling to help the teaem.

“But if I’m honest I haven’t gone into this in great form. Any player goes through peaks and troughs, it’s as important to make runs when you’re not feeling in good nick. Sometimes you have to get ugly runs. You have to stick in and get those runs when they’re needed.

“The keeping? Touch wood, fingers crossed. I’ve worked very hard, I’ll continue to do so. Frenchy has been absolutely fantastic. Always right there, even if it’s only by text. He watches every ball.”

Quite how England managed to get to this point 1-0 up in the series is hard to explain. In the history of Test cricket only 19 Tests have gone to the last wicket partnership surviving, and England have done that twice in three games – not to mention in the opening Ashes Test against Australia in Cardiff last summer.

England’s incredible rearguard actions have frustrated the South Africans here and the under-pressure hosts must also cope with serious injury to seamer Friedel de Wet, who so nearly bowled them to victory in the first Test in Centurion in a devastating new ball spell which ripped out three England wickets in the final session.

De Wet, who needed injections to get through the New Year Test in Cape Town, has gone down with a stress fracture of his back and he also has a damaged disc. Their coach Mickey Arthur says he’s out for the rest of the season and admits he “fears for Friedel’s future”.

The South African selectors have also been embarrassed by the selection of Pakistan-born Imran Tahir – they called him up to the squad last week but have now been told he doesn’t qualify to play for his adopted nation despite marrying a girl from Pretoria and living here for four years.

And then of course they have the Makhaya Ntini situation – Ntini was dropped after winning his 101^st cap in Durban – but took five wickets in a domestic game yesterday. Curiously though, he isn’t even in the squad for Thursday.