I love annoying the opposition, says Collingwood

JOHANNESBURG,  (Reuters) – Paul Collingwood, who has  played a key role making sure England go into tomorrow’s fourth  and final test against South Africa 1-0 up in the series, said  he loved annoying the opposition with long, defiant innings.

The middle-order batsman hit 50 and 26 not out in the first  test at Centurion, 91 in the innings victory in Durban and 19  and 40 in Cape Town, the latter spanning 188 balls and leading  the visitors to a battling draw.

“I might bore a few people but it’s a job I enjoy and I love  to annoy the opposition,” Collingwood told reporters yesterday.  “I’ve always been a fighter, ever since growing up with my  brother in my early teens.

“I will always go out there and fight. This whole team has  shown that resilience. Obviously you need flair and genius at  times but in test cricket resilience is so important.

“My innings out here have been very special. Centurion was  good and in Cape Town I always had the belief we could do it.”

Collingwood said his fighting 40 in the third test was worth  a century to him and England.

“It was such a big game for us. It’s hard to measure these  innings, they’re not about runs, it’s about the time you spend  in the middle,” he added.

“The attitude you show to the other players, the balls you  face. I think those innings are worth a hundred and those  innings give me more pleasure than some hundreds.”

England finished the opening and third matches with their  last pair at the wicket, the first time that has happened twice  in the same series in test cricket.

KALLIS WORRY

South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis said the manner of  those two draws could be discouraging for the hosts.

“We have discussed it because the feeling could be that we  have dominated the series but somehow haven’t managed to get a  win,” he said. “We are still behind and we could feel hard done  by.

“But we have to look to the future, it’s useless feeling  that way, we need to move on and control what we do going  forward. England have never given up and they’ve managed to get  out of tough situations, they’ve shown fight and character.”