Paul Collingwood won England the 2010 T20 World Cup as captain.
England’s first-ever ICC trophy-winning captain, Paul Collingwood, who lifted the 2010 T20 World Cup, is unlikely to be part of the coaching staff for the upcoming Ashes 2025 tour, as questions mount over his personal conduct and a hefty tax bill.
Interestingly, Collingwood has not been part of the England coaching staff since May, when he withdrew for personal reasons from the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Nottingham. And a report in the Daily Mail has stated that he is no longer in the England Cricket Board’s (ECB) plans for the Ashes 2025.
A cloud of scandal has hung over Collingwood since April 2023, when former teammate Graeme Swann revealed on the Rig Biz Podcast an explicit audio recording circulating among cricketers.
The leaked audio note apparently depicts Collingwood having a two-hour sexual experience with several women. Though the timing and location of the encounter remain unknown, Swann called the tape "pure Collingwood" and dismissed it as proof of his being a "great tourist."
His reputation off the field has always kept him in the spotlight, as he was once fined 1000 pounds by the ECB in 2007 after he was spotted at Mavericks, a Cape Town strip club, during the T20 World Cup in South Africa.
Then in 2022, Collingwood, who was then the interim head coach of the England team, was photographed kissing a woman on a Barbados beach, days after England lost the final Test of a series against the West Indies by 10 wickets.
Collingwood has been ordered by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to pay a tax bill of £196,000 (approx. ₹2 crore), exacerbating his current situation. The fine stemmed from a lengthy inquiry into his use of "PDC Rights," a personal services company, to divert sponsorship earnings and lower his tax liabilities.
Although an earlier case was dismissed in 2009, HMRC restarted the investigation and determined that payments from brands such as Slazenger and Clydesdale Bank should be taxed as self-employment income rather than corporate revenues.
Collingwood has lost its appeal and must now pay the full amount. It is believed he was dealing with tax concerns in London when he missed England's summer match against Zimbabwe.
Collingwood scored 4259 runs in 68 tests, averaging a little over 40. He was significantly more useful in white-ball cricket due to his medium-pace bowling and brilliant fielding abilities. In 197 One-Day Internationals, Collingwood scored 5092 runs and took 111 wickets.
According to ECB sources, his increasingly nocturnal lifestyle, lack of professionalism off the pitch, and continuous personal troubles have harmed trust. Collingwood was noticeably absent from the 2005 Ashes squad's reunion this year for a commemorative event.
The ECB has not made a definitive announcement about Collingwood's future, merely saying that "one or two positions on the support team are being finalized" ahead of the Ashes tour.
(Daily Mail report)