Collingwood handed captain's role

Twenty20 / Editor / 22 June 2007 / Leave a Comment

Paul Collingwood has been confirmed as England's one day captain, with the Durham all-rounder leading the team in the upcoming matches against the West Indies.

The 31-year-old succeeds Michael Vaughan and will lead the team for the two Twenty20 matches and the three-match ODI series against the Windies.

Vaughan and Andrew Strauss have been left out of the 14-man squad, announced by the selectors on Friday, while uncapped duo Dimitri Mascarenhas of Hampshire and Warwickshire's Jonathan Trott were included in the party.

There are seven changes to the squad following the World Cup disappointment, with Alastair Cook, Ryan Sidebottom, Matt Prior, Owais Shah and Michael Yardy added.

There is no place for Andrew Flintoff and Ravi Bopara, who are recovering from injury problems, with Marcus Trescothick still to confirm he is ready to return to the international fold.

England are firm favourites going into the two Twenty20 matches and are trading at 2.02 to win the series, while the tourists can be backed at 5.8 and a drawn series is available to back at 2.14.

Squad: Paul Collingwood (Capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Jonathan Trott, Michael Yardy.