Bell feeling happy at home

Ian Bell © Getty Images

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Ian Bell returns to his Edgbaston home this weekend conceding that his England place might have been under threat had he not finally cracked the century barrier in one-day international cricket.

The 25-year-old Warwickshire batsman was one of a number of players thought in danger of losing their places after the return of injured pair Andrew Flintoff and Ravi Bopara for the ongoing NatWest Series against India.

After 47 one-day international appearances - and all but five of those in the top three - Bell’s failure to reach three figures undermined his position as part of England’s limited-overs side being formulated under new captain Paul Collingwood and coach Peter Moores.

But a brilliant, unbeaten 126 to help win the series opener at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday - followed by a determined 64 in Friday night’s thrilling nine-run defeat at Bristol - have ensured Bell will be one of the first names down on the team sheet for Monday’s third match in the series.

“I don’t know whether I was playing for my place, but Peter Moores has openly told me that he’s backing me and wants me to feel as if I can go out there and play my game,” said Bell.

“At the start of the series I thought it was maybe touch and go whether I was going to start at number three. But I had enough belief to know I was good enough to play there and score hundreds, and it was just a matter of time.

“I was glad with the way I played the other day and yesterday, but it’s about kicking on and setting some high standards to do it consistently.”

Ian Bell with the player of the match award at the Rose Bowl after his ton © Getty Images

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Bell’s resurgence has followed a return to form in the final Test against India at The Brit Oval, where he scored half-centuries in both innings.

He has taken that form into the start of a two-month period of one-day cricket which began with the current series against India.

“More than anything I’d done a lot thinking about one-day cricket,” said Bell, who scored 11 half-centuries at this level before reaching three figures.

“I’d played 40-odd games and done okay at times and not well at others - so I took a bit of time to look at it and see we’ve got a lot of one-day cricket coming up.

“I gave a lot of thought to what I had to do to improve - and I don’t think it was a fluke that I played like I did the other day. I realised that it was crunch time for me - and if I hadn’t put in a couple of really good performances then people would have been asking questions about me.”

The consequences of many more failures had already been signalled to Bell by his omission from the squad for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa, in favour of domestic specialists.

It provided a spur and a reminder that his place in the one-day squad was by no means secure, particularly with players like Sussex’s Luke Wright performing well for England A against India just a couple of weeks ago.

Sussex's Luke Wright was named in the World Twenty20 squad © Getty Images

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“I was disappointed not to be in the Twenty20 squad - but I knew it was time for my one-day cricket to kick on,” he added.

“I’ve had probably the last 12 months batting at number three or opening, so I’d had some opportunities - and I had to take the opportunities that I’d been given.

“I’d been given a lot of faith from the captain and the coach - and that was what was driving me on, because that could have been my last crack at batting at number three for a while.”

Critics of Bell would suggest that had he not fallen with eight overs to go last night as England chased India’s formidable total of 329 for seven, the result might have been different.

Attempting to force the pace against 18-year-old leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, Bell was caught at long-on with England needing 89 runs for victory. They eventually fell nine short, after a quickfire 52 from Dimitri Mascarenhas.

“With nine overs to go, I felt that I had to take some sort of a risk; if I could get a good over away then they would panic - I thought it was a risk we had to take,” he recalled.

“Looking back now, Dimi was starting to stroke the ball beautifully just after I got out - so if I’d hung around one or two more overs and two of us got a partnership going we could have taken it really close.”