Colly vows to get back in the pink for England

Paul Collingwood is confident he will be back scoring big runs for England again this week.

The selectors have kept faith with the Durham batsman for the Third Test, even though he has totalled fewer than 70 runs in eight innings for club and country this season.

But Collingwood believes last week's scratchy unbeaten 24 which sealed England's victory at Old Trafford is just what he needed - together with a brighter batting handle.

"I've had worse trots than this," Collingwood said today. "During the one-day internationals against New Zealand and Australia two winters ago I was going through a very bad patch and yet I came back to score two centuries on the bounce.

"I was a lot lower then. I'm sure I've got the strength to come back and score the runs again."

The only change he made last time was to alter his bat grip to pink. "That was pretty much it," he said. "I might get the pink one out again this week."

Despite making light of his run famine, he has clearly been working hard since Old Trafford.

"I worked on my game for a couple of days with [England batting coach] Andy Flower," he said. "We spoke about the game more than anything else and sometimes that works better than anything."

While England are likely to be unchanged, New Zealand must decide whether to stick with Daniel Flynn, who had two teeth knocked out at Old Trafford, and out-of-form James Marshall. Peter Fulton could come in for one of them.