DURHAM and England all rounder Paul Collingwood became the first Englishman for more than 70 years to score a double century in Australia early today.

Record-breaker Collingwood today admitted he always had his sights on a big score after helping England seize control of the second Ashes Test.

Collinwood progressed from an unbeaten 98 overnight to hit a superb 206 and share in a 310-run stand with Kevin Pietersen which helped England declare on 551 for six with Australia reaching 28 for one by the close of the second day.

His innings, which lasted eight hours and included 16 boundaries, was the tenth highest Ashes score by an England player while the partnership was England's fifth highest in Ashes history.

"It's been a good day for us," admitted Collingwood, who missed out on an Ashes century by just four runs during the opening Test in Brisbane.

"I turned up this morning with a few nerves needing a couple of runs for my century, but it wasn't just a century I was looking at - I wanted to make a big one.

"To get the double hundred meant a lot to me. I didn't sleep well last night and it felt like I was up about every 20 minutes, but I managed to get enough and it was nice to get past those three figures and focus on the job in hand.

"It was a disappointment last week in Brisbane because I knew if I'd have got past the hundred I could have made a big score there as well."

Collingwood's partnership with Pietersen also broke England's fourth- wicket record against Australia, overhauling the 288 recorded by Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe at Edgbaston in 1997.

* Full story in Monday's Northern Echo.