Collingwood happy to 'sledge' Australia

Paul Collingwood believes England are progressing well under new coach Andy Flower, but has admitted he may turn to old tricks to help his side regain the Ashes this summer.

England go in to next month's Ashes full of confidence after bouncing back from their 2-1 defeat in the West Indies to win the Caribbean outfit 2-0 on home soil.

The recent series saw Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad excel with the ball while Ravi Bopara appears to have cemented his place at number three with three consecutive hundreds against the West Indies.

Of that trio only Anderson played a part in the 5-0 Ashes defeat in 2006-07 when Collingwood became embroiled in a war of words with Australian legend Shane Warne.

The Durham all-rounder maintains "sledging" is still a part of the game and admits England may try that tactic again this summer.

"As players we have to be quite careful. There are obviously boundaries that you cannot go past and get too derogatory or anything like that," the one-day international captain told PA Sport.

"But if there is a way of upsetting players or getting stuck in to them and it's going to help the team out then I think that if you can do it, but do it slyly and be careful about it and do it at the right times I think just part and parcel of the game."

"They (the Australians) do come hard at you in all forms of the game and sledging is just part of it.We all expect it," the 33-year-old added.

This summer's Ashes will provide a stiff early test for new coach Andy Flower, but Collingwood believes the current squad has developed well since he took over from Peter Moores in January.

"The belief is there. We certainly have the players to do it," said Collingwood.

"I think losing the captain and the coach during that winter tour was obviously one of the lowest points for English cricket and there obviously had to be a lot of rebuilding.

"Since that Test in Jamaica though, when we were bowled out for 50-odd we have played some exceptional cricket.

"We have a lot of confidence in ourselves and that will only breed more confidence."