Collingwood not thinking about England job

Paul Collingwood, the veteran former England allrounder who has already declared his ambition to coach at the highest level when he retires from playing, says that only "a ridiculous offer" would interest in him the current England vacancy.

Yorkshire's first-team coach Jason Gillespie and fellow Australian Justin Langer currently head the betting for next England coach and Andrew Strauss, the new director of England cricket, confirmed at his first news conference that Gillespie was a candidate.

Were England to go in another direction, though, and shy away from putting an Australian in charge for an Ashes campaign, then Durham captain Collingwood would be a front-runner, especially given that he has already worked with England during a brief stint as assistant to former limited-overs coach Ashley Giles.

Collingwood will be 39 in two weeks' time but asked if he would be putting his name forward following the sacking of Peter Moores, he said his thoughts are on continuing his playing career, possibly even into next season.

"I'm still playing cricket for Durham," he said. "I have a contract until the end of the season and I'm looking forward to fulfilling that.

"At the moment, unless some kind of ridiculous offer comes in, something I can't refuse, I'm more than happy playing cricket for Durham, maybe even the season after this."

Collingwood, who has also coached with UAE and was Scotland's assistant coach at this year's World Cup, announced he would retire from playing at the end of last season only to change his mind.

"I spoke about last year being my last one, but if I keep taking wickets and scoring runs and keep enjoying it, and bringing some good youngsters through here at Durham, it is going to be a hard thing to give up."

Captain when England won the only ICC trophy in their history at the 2010 World Twenty20, Collingwood impressed with his energy and man-management skills in leading Durham to the County Championship in 2013, during a traumatic season in which their director of cricket, Geoff Cook, was recovering from a heart attack.