PAUL Collingwood went to India knowing that, despite his 96 and 80 in the final Test in Pakistan, he wouldn't retain his place if everyone were fit. Fat chance of that! By the time the current Test started he was a key member of the team, and how magnificently he responded.

The amount of injuries in sport becomes ever more astonishing, to the extent that it will be a surprise if the Ashes-winning X1 of the first four Tests against Australia ever play together again. Four of them are currently missing, and despite Collingwood's efforts England cannot match an Indian batting line-up which was already formidable before the emergence of wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. In 35 one-day internationals he averages 53.95 and has a top score of 183 not out against Sri Lanka. If he gets in when the England bowlers are tired all hell might break loose.

England will do well to save the current Test, but for Collingwood it has already been a triumph. After eight Test innings he averaged 14.8 and with people like Geoffrey Boycott saying he wasn't up to it he was starting to doubt himself.

While they are poles apart personality-wise, Boycott should have recognised that there was something of himself in Collingwood, a player prepared to work as hard as possible to maximise his talent.

He is the tenth Durham-born cricketer to play for England and none has yet scored more than two Test centuries, a feat achieved by Peter Willey in 50 innings from 1976-86, Colin Milburn (16 innings, 1966-69) and Andrew Stoddart (30 innings, 1888-98).

Before embarking for India, Collingwood said his 96 at Lahore had reassured him that he was capable of a Test century, and now he's made one don't bet against a few more.

ENGLAND rugby fans left Murrayfield on Saturday muttering: "We woz robbed." Shades of 1990, they no doubt felt, but the difference was that in that infamous Grand Slam denial England were robbed, this time they were not.

Scottish shenanigans at the scrummage have been cited in both cases, and in 1990 I recall accusing the Scots of securing victory by collapsing scrums, prompting letters from a couple of enraged readers whose names began with Mc.

There was a point just before half-time last Saturday when a Scottish prop refused to pack down properly at three five-metre scrums. England might have had a penalty try, but they should have scored anyway, only for Ben Cohen inexcusably to drop the ball.

The Scots deserved to win because they tackled their hearts out for 80 minutes and England were creatively clueless in the face of such resistance. The most incredible statistic was that at half-time Scotland had made 64 tackles to England's 12.

Yet the score was level, and far from crumbling in the last 20 minutes as normally happens in such circumstances, the Scots drew even greater inspiration from England's ineptitude and held on with relative comfort.

Their fortunes have risen as the Welsh bubble has burst, as epitomised by Charlotte Church's boyfriend, although it wasn't his fault he was asked to shake off his rust playing out of position.

Now preferring the slicked-back to the spiked-up hair, Gavin Henson showed none of the usual Welsh pride as he stayed tight-lipped throughout Land of My Fathers. Perhaps he takes the attitude that he can't sing like Charlotte, so why bother? Most of his teammates sang with the usual passion, but the wonderful flair of last season departed the moment Henson replaced Stephen Jones. In the end I almost felt sorry for him.

TWO sportsmen who will be much better known in America after recent triumphs are Britain's new tennis No 1 Andy Murray, and previously unheralded Australian golfer Geoff Ogilvie, who won the Accenture World Matchplay Championship in California.

This event attracts little interest on this side of the pond, although it ought now to be considered much more prestigious than the outdated World Matchplay held at Wentworth in October because it involves the world's top 64 players rather than a dubious dozen.

Television and money dictate that after eight years the Accenture will continue to be staged in the USA, as with most World Golf Championship tournaments, and it's no surprise to see Murray going from his triumph in San Jose to Memphis then Las Vegas.

One newspaper in Las Vegas asked: "Is there anyone hotter in tennis right now than Andy Murray?" It didn't stop him encountering difficulties in booking a room in a casino/hotel as Nevada's laws prohibit gambling under the age of 21.

But Murray is clearly enjoying America and seems to view Wimbledon with some trepidation because he knows that Henmania will be transferred to him now that Tim is yesterday's man.

FOLLOWING my observation about the crazy world of heavyweight boxing, it was good to see Danny Williams and Matt Skelton produce 12 rounds of toe-to-toe bravery, even if it was no classic. There will certainly be more style in Joe Calzaghe's middleweight unification fight against Jeff Lacy in Manchester. It's just a pity that television again dictates it starts at 2am on Sunday.