Retiring Colly a big loss for England - Strauss

Retiring Paul Collingwood has been a great servant for English cricket and epitomises the tight-knit nature of the team, Ashes-winning skipper Andrew Strauss said on Friday.

Collingwood, 34, said on Thursday it was time to move on and give younger players an opportunity in announcing his retirement from Test cricket.

England's raucous Barmy Army supporters gave Collingwood an emotional farewell on the final day of the fifth Sydney Test as England wrapped up an emphatic 3-1 series victory.

He doffed his cap to the fans as they sung out his name.

"I think he's been one of the great servants of English cricket," Strauss said of Collingwood.

"For the last eight or nine years he's been very much part of the soul of the England side.

"He does a lot of things off the pitch that you guys (media) don't see.

"He does a lot of the hard yards that people don't want to do and he doesn't get recognition for that."

Strauss said Collingwood would be a big loss for England's Test team.

"He's going to be a big loss for us, I really do think he will be because he epitomises everything this England side is about," he said.

"We're going to miss him greatly."

While he will no longer be a part of Test cricket, Collingwood will remain England's Twenty20 captain and play for the one-day team, the England and Wales Cricket Board said.

Collingwood was under increasing pressure to keep his number five batting spot after a dismal run at the crease during this Ashes series that garnered just 83 runs at 13.83