Paul Collingwood: England must treat World Cup like Ashes

Paul Collingwood has worked with England and Scotland in a coaching capacity

England must give the 50-over World Cup as much importance as the Ashes to make the most of the younger players, says ex-one-day captain Paul Collingwood.

England have never won the World Cup but host the next edition in 2019.

"We've got to make sure that the World Cup is equal to winning the Ashes," said Collingwood, who is taking on a consulting role with the one-day side.

"It's a huge opportunity for the youngsters coming through and the guys already there to do something special."

After limping out of the 2015 World Cup in the group stage, England played a more aggressive brand of one-day cricket on home soil over the summer.

They beat World Cup finalists New Zealand 3-2 and suffered a 3-2 defeat by winners Australia after regaining the Ashes. in August.

Collingwood captained England to their only global limited-overs trophy at the World Twenty20 in 2010

Collingwood, who captained England to their only global limited-overs trophy at the World Twenty20 in 2010 and won three Ashes series, believes there is a core of players capable of challenging for the 50-over title in 2019.

"From what I've seen, it's a really exciting time to be involved in English cricket," said Collingwood, who will help coach the limited-overs teams against Pakistan in the UAE in November and at the World T20 in India in March next year.

"We have a group of players who can move forward very quickly and hopefully get to the very top and be one step ahead rather than one step behind all the time.

"It's a few years away but if we can get some great ideas, tactics and approaches on how we are going to go about it, it's crucial that we get the right players in the right spots as soon as possible."

Collingwood, England's most-capped ODI player with 197 appearances, added: "I can't tell Jos Buttler how to hit a reverse sweep over backward point but hopefully I can create the confidence in their game to go and do it out in the middle without any fear."