England on high but Paul Collingwood hits out over record low

Only 5,821 fans saw England thrash a demoralised Pakistan side by six wickets and with 36 balls to spare as they recorded their seventh straight victory and wrapped up the series 2-0.

But it was a subdued atmosphere at the Swalec Stadium with more than two thirds of the Cardiff ground empty and a sense that Pakistan would rather have been anywhere else following the spot-fixing scandal.

Collingwood believes it was purely coincidental the smallest crowd in England's international Twenty20 history occurred in the light of the revelations which have rocked cricket.

He feels it has everything to do with a crazy fixture schedule which has already seen 151 domestic Twenty20 games played and will see the international season run until 22 September.

Collingwood said: "We've been saying there's overkill for 10 years.

"We're not going to complain at the minute because we're going through some good times. But if you're asking about spectators not turning up then one of the reasons probably is too much cricket.

"The crowd probably wasn't surprising with the amount of cricket that's gone on this year and the amount of Twenty20s too. It was a Tuesday night in September — that may be a reason."

The desperately flat atmosphere wasn't helped by a Pakistan team still reeling from allegations of illegal betting and struggling for team unity.

"Morale is very low," admitted skipper Shahid Afridi. "We played some very immature cricket."

England did all they could to ensure the most of emphatic of victories that sets them up for the upcoming Natwest one-day series beginning on Friday in Durham.

Collingwood added: "We've been in this position before where you just want to keep the opposition down.

"We're trying not to give them a sniff of winning. We've beaten them in the Test matches, we've beaten them in the Twenty20s and we want to carry that form into the one-dayers.

"I'm not going to give them any tips on how to turn things around. No chance."

Tim Bresnan was the pick of England bowlers with three for 10 from 3.4 overs while Eoin Morgan once again proved a calming influence by guiding his team home following the now customary flurry of middle order wickets.

Yorkshire all-rounder Bresnan picked up the man-of-the-match award, and Collingwood was full of praise for a bowling unit that seems to have Pakistan's number.

"When you're world champions the pressure can be even greater but the boys seem to be relishing that pressure," he said. "When you've got a player like Jimmy Anderson on the bench it shows the depth we have in the bowling department."