Ian Bell's Profile by CricketArchive

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Player:

IR Bell

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DateLine: 3rd June 2008

 

Bell is a very strong technical player and very assured of his off-stump. He was drafted into county cricket at an early age of 17 years, and even then was proclaimed to be one of the most gifted players in the English domestic circuit. In the 2001 season for his county Warwickshire, he went on to score 836 runs at an average of 64.

 

As a result, the selectors saw it fit to blood him at a young age. He was already the England U-19 captain and had been earmarked for greatness. His immense footwork and knowledge of his off stump drew comparisons with Michael Atherton, and he was brought into the Test side, to bat at number 3 and be a permanent replacement for the ageing Mark Butcher.

 

Bell debuted against the West Indies in 2004 and later that year made his maiden appearance in the ODIs against Zimbabwe. He made a great start to his career stroking centuries against Bangladesh and for a brief moment, his average crossed 250. But he was sorted out by the legendary duo of McGrath and Warne in the 2005 Ashes, scoring less than two hundred runs in five matches. But he did strike back when in Australia in 2006, scoring four fifties in the series that England lost 5-0.

 

Bell is a good batsman in both forms of the game, but to become a true English great, he will have to perform more consistently. Although he has scored 2546 runs in 36 Tests as well as 2105 runs in 86 ODIs, his conversion rate is less than satisfying. He has 7 Test centuries while 18 half centuries, and the trend is the same in the shorter version of the game too, with just one century and 14 half centuries. By the end of England's disappointing World Cup campaign in March and April, Bell was one of a handful of squad members to have established themselves in both forms of the game. Yet for all his class, the doubts persisted in his inability to convert fifties into match-turning hundreds. His critics were briefly quietened after a sublime 110 against New Zealand in Napier, and a career-best 199 against South Africa at Lord's added to his enhanced reputation. But in between whiles he was still prone to missing out when the going was at its toughest.