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Mustard aiming to emulate Collingwood
DURHAM wicketkeeper Phil
Mustard is using England skipper
Paul Collingwood as a role
model in his bid to gatecrash
England's Test line-up.
The 25-year-old won a host of
plaudits after bursting into England's
one-day team during their
first one-day series win on Sri
Lankan soil.
The Washington-born keeper
then smashed 83 in the fourth
one-dayer against New Zealand
in Napier, but insists he will now
work round the clock to avoid
being pigeon-holed as a 50-over
specialist.
Durham team-mate Collingwood
cut his teeth for two and a
half years in England's one-day
side before he was finally handed
his chance in the Test arena in
December 2003 and Mustard is
prepared to follow suit and put in
the hard yards.
"Colly did well in the one-day
arena to start with and now he's
in the Test squad so it can be
done," he said.
"My ultimate ambition is to
represent my country in Tests.
That is everyone's goal.
"You always want to improve
your game to get it to the next
step and the next step for me
would be Test cricket.
"People see themselves as a
certain type of player and people
have marked me down as a oneday
player but I see myself as a
Test player as well.
"You've always got to have a
game plan and with Geoff Cook
up at Durham he has always been
a great help to me.
"He says we know you can go
and play a few shots but don't get
too carried away'.
"I've got older and wiser and
now you just have a game plan in
whatever type of game it is.
There is a bit of madness to my
method."
Mustard's heroics for Durham
last term earned him the respect
of Australian legend Shane
Warne, who described him as a
potential Adam Gilchrist.
The Colonel' received further
support when England skipper
Collingwood also likened his ability
at the top of the one-day order
to that of the recently-retired
Aussie wicketkeeper.
But with Warwickshire's Tim
Ambrose pipping Mustard as the
England man behind the stumps
for the three-match series with
New Zealand, he knows he will
have to up his game to make his
five-day debut.
"I felt comfortable in all the
games," he said. "There were a
couple of shots where I was a bit
unlucky. I hit one straight low
down to New Zealand captain
Daniel Vettori and there was a
run out.
"But I was happy in the international
arena and I showed I can
do it at the top level so I'm confident
I can make it.
"I performed well in the
Durham one-day games last year.
I was the country's top scorer in
the Friends Provident and
through my one-day performances
I got into the England
squad.
"If I can keep that up and prove
my worth in the four-day game
then there is no reason why I
can't get picked."
9:32am Tuesday 8th April 2008
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