Collingwood considers surgery to be fighting fit for the Ashes
Paul Collingwood will be fit to bat, bowl and field in the first Test against New Zealand, starting at Lord's on Thursday.
But he has admitted that the "last resort" of shoulder surgery had been considered, leaving him on a knife-edge before next summer's Ashes.
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No more needles: Collingwood has had the last injection in his shoulder he can have
Following injection No 3 on his right shoulder, 31-year-old Collingwood knows that if the pain resurfaces an operation may be the only solution. And with a busy international programme between now and the visit of Australia, the national one-day captain simply has no time for a three to six-month lay-off.
He said: "This is the last injection I can have in this particular area. Surgery is obviously a possibility but this cortisone will work for the next two months at least and hopefully I can manage it. Surgery means missing so much cricket and you never know how you'll respond to that."
Ryan Sidebottom was on Monday night named England's Vodafone Player of the Year.
