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Full name Ian Ronald Bell
Born April 11, 1982, Walsgrave, Coventry, Warwickshire
Current age 26 years 35 days
Major teams England,Warwickshire,Warwickshire Cricket Board
Nickname Belly
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Height
5 ft 10 in
Education Princethorpe College, Rugby
Relations Brother - KD Bell
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
36
66
7
2546
162*
43.15
5058
50.33
7
18
295
11
36
0
ODIs
64
62
4
2105
126*
36.29
2913
72.26
1
14
205
8
16
0
T20Is
4
4
0
49
22
12.25
53
92.45
0
0
5
0
3
0
First-class
126
218
20
8565
262*
43.25
21
48
86
0
List A
157
150
12
4860
137
35.21
3
37
49
0
Twenty20
22
21
4
295
66*
17.35
275
107.27
0
1
28
6
10
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
36
6
108
76
1
1/33
1/33
76.00
4.22
108.0
0
0
0
ODIs
64
6
88
88
6
3/9
3/9
14.66
6.00
14.6
0
0
0
T20Is
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
First-class
126
2719
1490
47
4/4
31.70
3.28
57.8
3
0
0
List A
157
1290
1138
33
5/41
5/41
34.48
5.29
39.0
0
1
0
Twenty20
22
10
132
186
3
1/12
1/12
62.00
8.45
44.0
0
0
0
Career statistics
Test debut
England v West Indies at The Oval, Aug 19-21, 2004 scorecard
Last Test
New Zealand v England at Napier, Mar 22-26, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut
Zimbabwe v England at Harare, Nov 28, 2004 scorecard
Last ODI
New Zealand v England at Christchurch, Feb 23, 2008 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut
England v Pakistan at Bristol, Aug 28, 2006 scorecard
Last T20I
New Zealand v England at Christchurch, Feb 7, 2008 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut
1999
Last First-class
Derbyshire v Warwickshire at Derby, May 7-10, 2008 scorecard
List A debut
1999
Last List A
Warwickshire v Leicestershire at Birmingham, May 5, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut
Somerset v Warwickshire at Taunton, Jun 13, 2003 scorecard
Last Twenty20
New Zealand v England at Christchurch, Feb 7, 2008 scorecard
Profile
Once described by Dayle Hadlee as the best 16-year old he had ever seen, Ian Bell had been earmarked for greatness long before he was drafted onto the England tour of New Zealand in 2001-02, as cover for the injured Mark Butcher. Tenacious and technically sound, Bell is a top-order batsman very much in the mould of Michael Atherton, who was burdened with similar expectations when he made his England debut a generation ago. And like Atherton, it is Bell's mental attitude to the game that has set him apart from his peers. When in form, he is particularly adept at leaving the ball outside off stump, and he has received glowing reviews from coaches at every stage of his development, not least from Rod Marsh at the England Academy, a man not given to hyperbole. A former England U19 captain, Bell had played just 13 first-class games when called into the England squad, though in 2001 he scored 836 runs for Warwickshire at an average of over 64, including three centuries. Amid all the attention, Bell's form slumped, but by 2004 he was on his way back. He finally made his Test debut against West Indies in August 2004, stroking 70 in his only innings, before returning the following summer to lift his career average to an obscene 297 with two unbeaten innings against Bangladesh, including his maiden Test century at Chester-le-Street. Unsurprisingly, he wouldn't find such easy pickings on offer for the rest of the summer. Found out - like so many others - by Australia's champions, McGrath and Warne, he mustered just 171 runs in ten innings, but bounced back that winter, top-scoring for the series against Pakistan, including a classy century at Faisalabad. After seeking advice from Alec Stewart to assert himself at the crease, he struck three elegant centuries in successive Tests against Pakistan and went to Australia with a new-found belief, having been named ICC's young player of the year for 2006. He was targeted by the Australian sledging, but managed four elegant half-centuries to confirm his stature as a Test batsman. 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, until he silenced the critics (for now) with a sublime 110 against New Zealand in Napier. Andrew Miller April 2008
Notes
NBC Denis Compton Award 1999, 2000, 2001
PCA Young Cricketer of the Year 2004
Awarded the MBE in 2005
ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2006 Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2008
