Paul Collingwood does good work for charidee

Cricketers have a long and proud tradition of supporting good causes. Paul Collingwood is carrying that on - or at least he will be when he brings his bat to the middle at some point over the next 48 hours.

Colly will be batting in the fourth Test with a specially designed bat grip to show his support for the Chance To Shine initiative, aimed at bringing cricket back in to state schools.

His sponsors Slazenger are providing the bat grips, and of course he is very much looking forward to using them. In typical Colly style, he says: "It is fantastic to have the opportunity to encourage the kids to get involved with cricket. Chance To Shine is a great way to raise the profile of the game in schools, and to give pupils first-hand experience of the enjoyment you can get from cricket. We are looking forward to using the bat grips to help raise awareness for Chance To Shine."

As an ambassador for the scheme, the strawberry-blond fielding genius doesn't just pick up promotional goodies - he went back to his old school, Consett Community Sports College, earlier this week to meet and coach the pupils, making him a braver man than many of us, who wouldn't dream of returning to the site of our teenage traumas. [Carrie Dunn] [Image: Getty]