England captain in strip club row

CRICKET: England captain Paul Collingwood on Tuesday apologised for visiting a strip club a night before an important tie in the Twenty20 world championships.

The tabloid ‘The Sun’ reported on Tuesday that Collingwood accompanied friends to a lap dancing club in Cape Town on Saturday night ahead of England’s Super Eights tie against hosts South Africa the next day.

England lost the match by 19 runs with Collingwood failing to score.

“I was taken to an inappropriate bar, realised that and got out of there,” Collingwood said after England suffered a five-run defeat by New Zealand at the Kingsmead here on Tuesday.

“Obviously I’m disappointed from my side of things and hopefully it won’t happen again. I made a mistake, that’s what it comes down to.”

Collingwood said he had one beer in the club. “The friends that I was with were not massively close friends, to be honest, and they took me to the bar,” he said.

Collingwood added he had apologised to the team management. “I’ll make apologies to them, I have already,” he said. “I realise it was inappropriate and I’m disappointed with myself.”

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said Collingwood had been fined and the matter was now closed.

“The England team management met today (Tuesday) following Paul Collingwood’s admission he was led into an inappropriate place at an inappropriate time in Cape Town,” an ECB statement said.

“As a result, Paul Collingwood has been levied with a suitable fine. The matter is now closed.”

The defeat against the Kiwis means England have only an outside chance of reaching the semi-finals.

DURBAN, South Africa, Wednesday