WHEN the MCC members lining the stairs inside the Lord’s pavilion applauded Paul Collingwood all the way to the England dressing room on Friday, he was almost too annoyed with himself to acknowledge their appreciation, writes John Stern. He had the look of a thirsty man whose pint had been prematurely taken by an over-zealous barman. He hadn’t finished. He is a determined cricketer and a modest man, but putting his innings in context shows the magnitude of his achievement.

Only seven England batsmen have made a higher score in a Test since Graham Gooch’s monumental 333 in 1990. England have registered five double hundreds in that time, the most recent and the highest being Rob Key’s 221 against West Indies at Lord’s in 2004. The other double centurions are Marcus Trescothick (219 v South Africa at The Oval in 2003), Graham Gooch (210 v New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 1994), Nasser Hussain (207 v Australia at Edgbaston 1997) and Graham Thorpe (200 not out v New Zealand at Christchurch in 2001-02).

Trescothick has fallen in the 190s twice (v Bangladesh at Lord’s in 2005 and against Pakistan at Multan last winter) as has Michael Vaughan, both against India in 2002. In all Collingwood’s 186 is the 11th highest score by an England batsman since Gooch’s 333.

Few England supporters would ever believed that Collingwood, who appeared in 42 one-day internationals before playing a Test, would be walking off a sun-kissed Lord’s having made a vital and sizeable Test hundred. But he has answered Duncan Fletcher’s call at every turn. The coach wants big hundreds and the Durham dynamo has delivered. And unlike the aforementioned Key, it is hard now to see Collingwood losing his place for a long time to come.