Collingwood blow for Durham

Durham have suffered a major blow ahead of their Friends Life t20 campaign with the news that Paul Collingwood will miss at least the next month through injury, the club revealed today.

Collingwood, a former England Twenty20 captain, has become something of a Twenty20 specialist since losing his England place. He played for Rajasthan in the 2010 IPL, scoring 203 runs at 40.60 and also represented Perth in the inaugural Big Bash League, helping them reach the final.

But Durham will have to make do without him after revealing that he has suffered a broken hand during their Championship match against Warwickshire at Chester-le-Street last week.

A first scan was inconclusive but Durham have now confirmed that he will miss the group stages of the FLt20 after an MRI scan on Monday revealed "an undisplaced fracture of his second metacarpal". His estimated recovery time is put at four to five weeks.

Durham are desperate that their ageing side can find consolation in FLt20 after a disastrous start to the Championship season. Regarded as potential title contenders, they are bottom of the table without a win in eight matches as some of their most famous names, such as Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett, have had a season to forget.