Vaughan: 'Lay off Collingwood'

Updated 17.12 Sat Oct 06 2007

Keywords: Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Michael Vaughan, Sri lanka, England, cricket, sport

Test captain Michael Vaughan is urging England's cricket critics to lay off one-day counterpart Paul Collingwood.

Collingwood has come under fire in the wake of England's failure to reach the semi-finals in the inaugrual ICC World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa.

"I don't know what it is, but Colly always seems to get a lot of criticism and is always underrated" - Michael Vaughan

But Vaughan has thrown his backing behind the Durham all-rounder, telling reporters: "I don't know what it is, but Colly always seems to get a lot of criticism and is always underrated.

"We lost in South Africa and suddenly people are saying he is not very good, but they forget he led us to victory over India only last month. He has only captained ten times and is still learning."

The England Test skipper has also admitted that he is "concerned" about the long-term future of talismanic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who looks unlikely to play again this year because of a persistent ankle problem.

Vaughan, who has overcome his own career-threatening injuries, added: "I am concerned about Fred. I'm not sure I could go through another operation and all the work required afterwards again. It's more tiring than playing."