Ban puts Paul Collingwood's captaincy at risk

Paul Collingwood has been banned for four limited-overs internationals and could face a fight to regain the one-day captaincy.

Collingwood will miss the NatWest series decider against New Zealand at Lord's and then, in August, a 50-over match with Scotland, plus a Twenty20 game and the first of five full internationals against South Africa after being held responsible for England's slow over-rate at The Oval yesterday.

The all-rounder's suspension is likely to mean Kevin Pietersen will lead England on Saturday, although the selectors could decide to recall Andrew Strauss to the squad and ask him to take over.

As for Collingwood, today's judgement - handed down by International Cricket Council match referee Javagal Srinath - completed a desperate 24 hours.

His team played poorly to lose a second consecutive match, and leave New Zealand with a 2-1 series lead, while he was roundly criticised for failing to withdraw a run-out appeal after Kiwi all-rounder Grant Elliott had collided with bowler Ryan Sidebottom.

Collingwood later apologised to the tourists, but there is sure to be an extra edge to Saturday's showdown, even though initially furious New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori hoped the two teams could put the incident behind them.