Collingwood joins ton club

Paul Collingwood is one of the most hard-working cricketers in the game © Getty Images

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Paul Collingwood stands by to play his 100th one-day international in the last match of the NatWest Series with Pakistan on Sunday, having feared he would never reach the standards required to succeed at the top level.

The 30-year-old Durham all-rounder will become the 11th England player to reach the landmark at Edgbaston, joining a list of legends including Graham Gooch, David Gower and Ian Botham.

But it is not that long ago that Collingwood genuinely believed he might have been out of his depth when he made his first tentative strides on the international stage during the NatWest Series against Pakistan and Australia five years ago.

In four appearances during that series Collingwood made only 20 runs and conceded 49 in only 7.1 overs as England went on a record-breaking run of 11 consecutive defeats. It led to him question his right to be on that stage.

"It took me a hell of a long time to get used to international cricket," explained Collingwood. "It was a shock to the system and I'll always remember it.

Paul Collingwood realised he had to improve his game © Getty Images

"At the end of that first series I had a realisation that I probably wasn't good enough and it was a massive dent of confidence to believe that.

"It was a very hard series to go into against Pakistan and Australia, but I still wondered whether I was good enough - to do well after that meant a lot to me because I'm sure there were a few doubters about my ability."

Collingwood has since rewarded the faith shown in him by coach Duncan Fletcher by hitting an unbeaten 112 and claiming 6-31 against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge last year to become the first player since the great Viv Richards in 1987 to bag a century and five wickets in a one-day international.

He also hit the winning runs in England's famous ICC semi-final victory over Australia at Edgbaston in 2004 - their first against their arch-rivals in 13 matches - and established himself as one of the best backward-point fielders in world cricket.

As a hardened professional cricketer he will focus on Sunday's game as one England must win if they are to prevent Pakistan taking the series, but he admits it will be a little more special than most.

"It's quite ironic how it's come around full circle because I also made my debut against Pakistan at Edgbaston, but I really don't think I'll really appreciate what it's all about until I finish my career and look back at it all.

Paul Collingwood celebrates the Ashes win in 2005

"You don't realise what sort of company you're in until you look at it properly. When you mention names like Gooch, Gower and Botham it makes you very proud to be in that sort of company."

But it is his early struggles that occupy his thoughts at present and particularly the similarity between him and several of the younger players tried this summer by an England side decimated by injuries.

"You don't realise how it's affected the newer guys," conceded Collingwood. “They go out there and they seem confident and whether I was like that when I started I'm not too sure, but it's easy to think it doesn't affect them when I'm sure it does inside.

"It's important the senior guys like myself go up to them and try to give them a bit of a boost just like Darren Gough did to me when I first got into the side.

"Players like myself, Andrew Strauss and Marcus Trescothick have an important job with that. There are not many of us that have played a lot of games and we have to make sure we keep the rest of them upbeat and confident in what they're doing."

That was particularly necessary last night when Abdul Razzaq delivered a stunning display of clean hitting to propel Pakistan to a total of 235 for eight, adding 69 in the last four overs with an unbeaten 75 off 72 balls.

The display reminded Collingwood of his own debut when an aggressive innings of 25 off 24 balls from Shahid Afridi and 38 from 24 balls by Azhar Mahmood enabled Pakistan to claim a 108-run victory.

"I can always remember my debut watching Afridi smashing it over backward point off Darren Gough and thinking to myself 'what is going on here?’" he recalled.

"It would have been exactly the same for the new guys in that game. They have probably missed a good line and length by a matter of inches and they have been smashed for a big six.

"This is what you learn at international level - the margins are so small and you have to be right on your game."