Collingwood makes England 'comeback'

England's injury problems led to a manpower shortage in Adelaide, where 2010-11 Ashes winner Paul Collingwood was pressed into service.

Collingwood, 41, found himself kitted out in borrowed gear and fielding for an over against a Cricket Australia XI at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

Try as he might, Paul Collingwood just can't stop playing cricket.

The veteran Durham captain, who signed a new deal with the county in August to continue in 2018 after postponing his retirement yet again, is supposed to be on England's Ashes tour of Australia strictly in a coaching capacity.

But the 41-year-old found himself kitted out in borrowed gear and fielding for an over against a Cricket Australia XI at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

The visitor has been further depleted by an injury to Jake Ball, and a temporary shortage of personnel led to a familiar face getting involved in South Australia.

"They weren't my England whites, they were Mason Crane's whites. He's a bit smaller and shorter than me but I squeezed into them!" Collingwood told ecb.co.uk .

"You've got to do your duty, haven't you? There weren't too many guys left in the dugout there ready to come on.

"James Vince did not have to come off the pitch. They obviously thought it would be funny and it was good to be out there for an over.

"I looked around the dugout and there weren't many people left to do it. Moeen Ali isn't fit at the moment, Stuart Broad had just a spell in the nets and he was very tired, so they said 'Colly, get your whites on!'

"They kept hitting the ball to me! I tried to keep up with Woakesy [Chris Woakes] chasing him down to the boundary, he's got to keep up with the old men."

On a more serious note, Woakes knows the sprained ankle suffered by Ball will cause England another headache after Steven Finn returned home due to a knee injury.

"It's quite frustrating for himself and us as a team," he said.

"It's never nice to see one of the fast guys go off injured.

"We [the bowlers] now have to step up, individually you have to step up but it is never good to lose a bowler. Losing Finny was sad for him but we have to deal with it.

"Tom Curran is coming into the squad and we have to rebuild. We've got a good unit in the dressing-room who are willing to put in the hard yards.

"I think we can all cause some problems out here with what we've got."