<p> <br />“It seems to me that the public of England are just interested in the Ashes and everything else doesn’t matter too much,” 33-year-old Collingwood said.<br /><br />England gave birth to modern professional limited overs cricket back in the 1960s and pioneered Twenty20, the sport’s shortest top-flight format.<br /><br />Even so one-day matches have tended to be tolerated as a financial necessity by many within the English game, be they administrators, players, spectators and the media, with priority given to Test cricket, still the ‘real thing’.<br /><br />England are currently 2-0 down in their seven match one-day international (ODI) series against Australia ahead of Wednesday’s Rose Bowl day-nighter.<br /><br />But, with home fans still rejoicing in the team’s 2-1 Test series win over Australia, wrapped up last month at the Oval, it seems many England supporters couldn’t care less about a series widely regarded as an Ashes afterthought.<br /><br />“To us, as players, this is an important stepping stone, we want to continue improving our one-day cricket,” said Collingwood. <br /><br />England have never won a major ODI event and made the last of their three losing World Cup final appearances back in 1992.<br /><br />Just days after their current series against Australia ends at Collingwood’s Durham home ground in Chester-le-Street, they head to South Africa for the Champions Trophy one-day tournament, one of the prestigious ICC events.</p>
<p> <br />“It seems to me that the public of England are just interested in the Ashes and everything else doesn’t matter too much,” 33-year-old Collingwood said.<br /><br />England gave birth to modern professional limited overs cricket back in the 1960s and pioneered Twenty20, the sport’s shortest top-flight format.<br /><br />Even so one-day matches have tended to be tolerated as a financial necessity by many within the English game, be they administrators, players, spectators and the media, with priority given to Test cricket, still the ‘real thing’.<br /><br />England are currently 2-0 down in their seven match one-day international (ODI) series against Australia ahead of Wednesday’s Rose Bowl day-nighter.<br /><br />But, with home fans still rejoicing in the team’s 2-1 Test series win over Australia, wrapped up last month at the Oval, it seems many England supporters couldn’t care less about a series widely regarded as an Ashes afterthought.<br /><br />“To us, as players, this is an important stepping stone, we want to continue improving our one-day cricket,” said Collingwood. <br /><br />England have never won a major ODI event and made the last of their three losing World Cup final appearances back in 1992.<br /><br />Just days after their current series against Australia ends at Collingwood’s Durham home ground in Chester-le-Street, they head to South Africa for the Champions Trophy one-day tournament, one of the prestigious ICC events.</p>