What is the point of Ian bell in the England team?

Alright admittedly due to the heat, and the pressure generated by the fact we had failed against spin on numerous occasions before that innings, KPs is better. However, strauss? There is the problem as well of who do you replace him with? Either way in the unlikely even that he was to get dropped, he would play even more games for the bears, so either way I would be happy. I think the better question is why is he not in the ODI set up?

Day 6

Post-match drinks. We’re all at the hotel bar. Swann turns to the barman and shouts “Oi barman, I’ll have some nuts. Make them KP.”

The place falls about into laughter. Not happy. Continue drinking. Five minutes later Strauss says:

“Oi KP.”

I turn to him. He’s looking at the barman. “Nuts please.”

More laughter. S****ing. I see Bell shaking in the corner. Few minutes later I hear his voice shout “Oi KP.”

Am livid. Later that night I knock on his door. He answers wearing a leopardskin leotard. I punch him in the face.

The greatness of Pietersen's Colombo innings had nothing to do with any supposed pressure on him owing to spin bowling. That myth was laid to rest by the consecutive centuries he had plundered the previous month off Ajmal, Afridi, Rehman and Hafeez.

Pietersen in Colombo elevated himself above not just the humidity which had sapped every other man in that game, but above the match situation itself. He was the definition of different class.

I think if you look at his record against left arm spinners, it has a lot to do with it, and we know that was a great innings nobody is debating otherwise, it is should bell be in the team, and so far nobody has convinced me otherwise.

It's you who brought KP into it by claiming Bell at his best is as good as Pietersen on current form.

jamesyd     13 Apr 12 16:36 
He was our leading run scorer, only a year ago. On top of that, that 150 innings you mentioned equals any innings what KP or strauss has ever done lately,

You can't make a statement like that in the light of what Pietersen's done this winter vs Pak and SLanka and expect to convince people of Bell's worth in the side.

Okay I said one off innings, and our next series is at home, where Bell has performed much better in comparison to KP. Yes KP played well in Asia. however in England it is a different ball game, and we come back to my main point, who do you play instead, because we already have the problem of who bats at 6/7 other then prior. So by dropping Bell, you add another problem to the equation, and Strauss has done nothing lately, i think it is something like 50 innings without a century, anybody else and they would of been gone a long time ago. Cook could easily take the captaincy.

Well, we're not going to find out who could replace Bell unless he makes way for someone else.

Rather than gift Bell some cheap runs at home to the W Indies this spring, this is the opportunity to ease Ben Stokes or Jos Buttler or Jonny Bairstow into Test cricket. Otherwise you're just rewarding Bell for his failures, leaving potential replacements having to face S Africa or India away for their debuts.

Here are Bells's last 10 matches (fifties in bold):

Recent matches
Bat & Bowl    Team    Opposition    Ground    Match Date    Scorecard
18    England    v Sri Lanka    Colombo (PSS)    3 Apr 2012    Test # 2039
52, 13    England    v Sri Lanka    Galle    26 Mar 2012    Test # 2038
14, 0/34, 11    England XI    v SLC Dev XI    Colombo (SSC)    20 Mar 2012    First-class
0    England XI    v SL Board XI    Colombo (RPS)    15 Mar 2012    First-class
5, 10    England    v Pakistan    Dubai (DSC)    3 Feb 2012    Test # 2034
29, 3    England    v Pakistan    Abu Dhabi    25 Jan 2012    Test # 2032
0, 4    England    v Pakistan    Dubai (DSC)    17 Jan 2012    Test # 2030
0, 12*    England XI    v PCB XI    Dubai (GCA)    11 Jan 2012    First-class
3, 39    England XI    v ICC Comb XI    Dubai (GCA)    7 Jan 2012    First-class
2    England    v India    Kolkata    25 Oct 2011    ODI # 3210

Here are Strauss's:


Bat & Bowl    Team    Opposition    Ground    Match Date    Scorecard
61, 0    England    v Sri Lanka    Colombo (PSS)    3 Apr 2012    Test # 2039
26, 27    England    v Sri Lanka    Galle    26 Mar 2012    Test # 2038
100    England XI    v SLC Dev XI    Colombo (SSC)    20 Mar 2012    First-class
40    England XI    v SL Board XI    Colombo (RPS)    15 Mar 2012    First-class
56, 26    England    v Pakistan    Dubai (DSC)    3 Feb 2012    Test # 2034
11, 32    England    v Pakistan    Abu Dhabi    25 Jan 2012    Test # 2032
19, 6    England    v Pakistan    Dubai (DSC)    17 Jan 2012    Test # 2030
3, 62    England XI    v PCB XI    Dubai (GCA)    11 Jan 2012    First-class
17, 78    England XI    v ICC Comb XI    Dubai (GCA)    7 Jan 2012    First-class
32, 30    Middlesex    v Leics    Leicester    12 Sep 2011    First-class

If you think Strauss is going to get dropped in favour of Bell, dream on.

you listed so many pointless matches, ones with no meaning, and where the batting order would of been changed etc. You do NOT select players becuase of England XI matches. Here are the only stats we need

Strauss 94 matches, 167 innings, 6604 runs, 41.01 average
Bell,   74 matches, 125 innings, 5161 runs, 46.49 average

So you would drop a test player who has scored over 5000 test runs with an average of over 45? what a fool, not in a million years is that happening, and more to the point his average is much better. So come back with a list what excludes England XI games, where opening is a huge luxury.

ian bell deserves his place in the team because all in all the standard of cricket is ****, test cricket is being killed by the iphell, no test side around at the moment that could live with the aussies of 15 yeard ago

re: batting in 40 degree heat.

Much harder for bowlers to bowl in that heat no?  hence more  massive individual knocks in hot parts of the world.

Good ton last week for sure but against a very average attack on a tiny ground

Fair point, Lix. But if the bowlers were tired in that game, no other batsman was able to take advantage in the way Pietersen did.

Mahela 105 off 216 balls, Cook 94 off 278 balls, Pietersen 151 off 165 balls


Day 3

I am the spotlight

I was having breakfast with the Sky TV crew. Suddenly Nas starts going off on one.

“Hey KP,” he says. “Have you been dyeing your hair again?”

“Er no. What are you going on about Nas. At least I have some hair.”

The table went silent. Nas slammed down his spoon spraying shreddies everywhere. Freddie Flintoff was covered in it. He got up and walked over to my side of the table. Getting really close into my face he said:

“This, this is hair. Look at this. Don’t you ever talk to me about hair again you insignificant piece of ****.”

With that he walked off. We all silently ate our breakfasts. From the corner of my eye I could see Bell s****ing. On my way back to my room I called in on him. He was there wearing a pink negligee. He got it all right.

I will start by saying I am not some Indian or Aussie or who ever fisherman, I am also not a natural pessimist regards England, I am a patriot almost at all costs, but I have to wonder.  Has he ever scored important runs under pressure for England?  What is the worth of someone who comes in at 300/3 and scores one twenty not out in an innings win.  The ton fifty last summer at number three was a very good innings, under pressure, and no one else got a ton, I will give him that,but not much of a return over a seventy plus test career.  I vaguely remember a gritty forty in south Africa, but really, what is the point if he virtually never contributes when we are really under pressure.  The other top five batsmen have all got far more important runs under pressure than bell.  What do others think, despite the hundred average last year If we are gonna have a casualty for this winter,s travails then I would certain ly put bell above Strauss.  And I think Morgan is more a man for the moment than bell regardless of any technical doubts (which can be addressed) at test level.  In summary, bell is mentally weak, and has been for eight years.

What a load of tosh. Are you Oirish? Bell is a quality batsman going through a bad patch. Morgan is just not very good.

Ian Bell has rescued England on many times in recent years - he demonstrated real mental strength in the 2009-10 series in SA (Durban and Cape Town).

Not sure comparing Ian Bell to Kp will help him too much, it's a bit of a pointless debate. Not sure why their are questions over any of the top 5. England are world number 1's, all of their top 5 apart from maybe strauss have scored runs consistantly, at decent averages, with big Innings contributions from all of them at some point over the last 2 years.


Last 2 years

Cook 2046 Ave 58 HS 294
Trott 1833 Ave 59 HS 226
KP 1580 Ave 49 HS 227
Bell 1443 Ave 62 HS 235
Strauss 1168 Ave 32.44 HS 110

Strauss has done a great job as captain in terms of results and therefor deserves at least this summer if not the winter as well to keep his place in the side. Any Argument made about dropping any of the otehr 4 is completely and utterly absurd.

Bells Innings in SA 3 winters ago, especially the 150 that won us the game and allowed us to draw the series away. Was one of the best Test match Innings any of these England players have played. Add to that his performance in the ashes and against India last summer and think we can all safely say that the lad is a Test class batsman.

And the IPL hasn't taken anything away from test cricket has nobody been watching the test matches we've had over the last 6 months???!!!

This thread assumes that Bell's performance is dependant on the score when he comes in which I dont think is neccesarily the case.  If he comes in at 30-3 and gets out for a low score was that due to pressure or just the fact that he got out to a good ball.  He could have got that same ball had he came in at 300-3 or any other score.  However if he comes in at 30-3 its more likely that is facing a strong or in form bowling attack or a difficult pitch than if he comes in at 300-3.  It is not really his fault if he happens to be in form at the same time as the other batsmen.  Furthermore if he were an opener then you couldnt really accuse him of failing when under pressure as he would always come in at 0-0 therefore Struass, Cook and Trott are immune to this type of critisism.  In Pakistan all of Englands batsman underperformed therefore you could accuse all of them of failing "under pressure" on this basis.

In Pakistan Strauss, cook and trott did poorly, though they held their own in comparison to the pakistanis generally.  Kp, Morgan and bell were awful, the only player that performed miserably in both series was bell.  And I don't think his decent series in safrica two years ago or his ton fifty last summer v India is much of a return in pressure situations.  Everyone else, pound for pound, in the top five well out performs bell in pressure situations.  I realize it is a subjective thing, but from what I've seen he just doesn't cut it when under pressure, ok if you think he is worth it because he does get runs in big wins, but is that really all you expect from a player of his quality/class?  Is it really that hard to say it out loud.... "Ian bell is a poor player under pressure"

I think you might have to take into consideration that the games were big wins because Bell scored runs, you can not seperate his performances in victories from the victories. Having watched England bat in the 90's i can't believe we're having a conversation about the merits of a player who over the last 2 years has scored 1443 runs at an average of 62 with a high score of 235 in a team that has lost just one series and currently sits at number 1 in the world. And people say the English public don't like winners.

Not doubting his ability to score runs during the period of English supremacy dougy.  Do you back him to get runs in a pressure situation next summer v saffers?  I reckon he'll score a hatfull v win dies and not score when it matters v saffers.

I'm not necessarily saying he should be dropped, but is it beyond the capabilities of some people on here to admit that he is mentally weak?  Vs sir lank, a modest attack, I just knew he wouldn't get runs each time he came in, because they were high pressure situations.

Last Time Ian Bell played this saffer side in England, a team that back then included Morkel and steyn he scored 332 runs in 4 test matches at an average of 47.42.

He has only ever faced a Saffer attack that has had stey in it his over all average against that attack, considered by many as the best in test cricket, is 46.07 HS 199 2 tons. He averages 29 v Morkel, 39 v kallis and 87 v steyn.

His runs at the oval in 09, his runs away in SA and his runs away in aus have all led to england winning or drawing key series. People read an awful lot into body language. Offer Ian bell to any test team in the world to bat in your top 5 and they'd snap your hand off.

Soft as sh1te mentally but the best we've got at 5 right now. Good knock in Durban yeah, but he came in at 297/4...

Doesnt make runs in pressure situations generally.

what about top scoring with 72 (i think) in the first inns of the decisive ashes test in 2009 on that oval dustbowl ? a pretty important knock under pressure don't you think

yeah mafeking - good point and what about 78 off 213 balls in capetown 2010 to help england secure a draw.

So were up to three innings now.

have to agree completely with you rob-dylan,you summed Bell up perfectly.i could write a book about this underachiever but you summed him up quite well actually.

The following statistics totally prove you wrong about Bell Rob Dylan

Averages in losing test matches

Bradman 43.27
Bell 28.93
Pietersen 28.78
Trott 27.21
Strauss 26.33
Cook 24.75

This suggests that Bell is Englands best batsman under pressure whereas Cook is the worst.  So this thread should be about Cook but as an opening batsman he never comes in with his team 50-3

Well, bell has, at times, looked England's best batsmen, but now he goes through periods of indifferent form, before discovering his contact once again to concrete his position in the middle order.

IPL live

Ian Bell fails as Jonathan Trott hits century for Warwickshire

County Championship Division One, Hove
Close, day one: Sussex v Warwickshire 281-5
Warwicks 2pts, Sussex 1pt
Match scorecard
Jonathan Trott hit an unbeaten century but England team-mate Ian Bell was out for a duck as Warwickshire enjoyed the better of day one against Sussex.
Bell lasted only seven balls before he was bowled by James Anyon.

well he must be rubbish then

He certainly is right now, and has been for the last 6 months.

He was very good very often for a long time before then.

But after the events of the winter, and his disastrous return to County cricket (18 and 16 in Warks' victory over Lancs, followed by the current duck), surely at some point you have to question his right to continue playing at Test level right now.

He's a blatant fkin bottler.

Bell just booked his place in the england side for the summer

105 no in a score of 195-7

Yeah probably the 2nd best knock of the season after Chris Read's on what looks like another tricky early season pitch.

How his position was in any question was a joke anyway, as has been pointed out bellow he's averaged over 60 in test matches in the last 2 years, you know what they say about form and class.

his position was never in any danger anyway. england give batsmen a long run when out of form. cook and strauss have both had lean runs lasting a year or longer. bell's amounts to 5 test matches so far. arguably he was the number 1 batsman in the world in 2011

do we reckon they will be patient with strauss

his current record is pretty bad and with cook waiting in the background he could be on borrowed time.

they are unlikely to change much before the South Africans arrive but he needs a score (or two) to be captain after this summer imo

Given that there has to be a new no 6 because of dropping Morgan (and doubt Patel gets a chance outside sub-continent), would be surprised if Strauss is under any threat. England unlikely to bring two new batsmen in at the same time. And FWIW I agree with the posters below, Bell was never going to get dropped for the next test.

Best short leg in the world.  Only problem is that for some reason (back?) Cook fields there instead.

Agreed, always assumed it because Cook is not great anywhere else whereas Bell can field well in any position.

Presumably Cook will move when he's captain, will be interesting if Bell goes back.

Not sure England always optimise their fielders, for example, Trott is quite slow in the outfield (albeit quick enough to run out Oz openers), but is an excellent slip fielder. Think I've only seen him in the slips once for England.

After a chastening tour of the UAE, where he averaged just 8.50 in the Test series, he had managed just 34 runs in his first three Championship innings of the season. In 16 of his last 20 first-class innings, he has failed to reach 20 and this may well prove his final first-class knock ahead of the first Test at Lord's. His confidence, understandably, had diminished.

He was not, perhaps, at his most fluent for the first half of this innings. He was dropped twice - on 51 and 59 - and survived a very confident leg-before appeal from Mitchell Claydon when he had 61.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2012/content/current/story/563644.html

As a punter it's going to take a lot more than this one-off innings to convince me the popular midget hasn't gone at the game. You don't fail as consistently and abysmally as he has for the last 8 months, then suddenly become Test-class thanks to a couple of dropped catches.

i think he can be spared a couple of dropped catches when the rest of the team were 90 for 7

Good match for Bell. Coming in with England in a bit of bother 4 down he secures victory with a high class unbeaten half century.

With Roach needing a rest, Fidel Edwards (whose long-term back problems require careful management) and Shannon Gabriel (who was forced off the field by back spasms) held together by Blu-Tack and hope, Bell was confronted by Darren Sammy and Samuels for much of the time. He faced only three balls from Roach before he was rested and only one from Edwards in his entire innings. Not for a moment was Bell forced out of his comfort zone

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-west-indies-2012/content/current/story/565741.html

Just as I feared. Keep giving Bell chances and eventually he'll find easy runs, leaving England lumbered with him for another 12 months.

you must be off your rocker screaming, he can't be at fault for the fact windies have no back up bowlers, i suppose it's his fault as well that he averaged over 100 last summer. And is suppose those runs he scored away in Aus the winter before last and away in SA must have also have been pretty soft. What a load of codswollop!

There's not a team in the world that wouldn't want to be "lumbered" with Ian Ronald Bell.

everyone got runs against india and aus tho didnt they? Both attacks were sh1te. Good knock in Durban mind.

he gets runs when everyone else doesn't and it's cos the bowling is sh*te and he gets runs when everyone else does and it's cos the bowling is sh*te, well obviously there's a lot of crap bowling around at the moment so therefore all of the engalnd batsman must be rubbish.

he averaged 8.5 in the desert. This is more important than a feckin 50 Not Out vs Sammy and Samuels on a pancake.

oh for the days when we didn't have someone as bad as ian bell batting at number 5. mark ramprakash perhaps ?

They all averaged feck all in the desert, they were all crap, ajmal bowled really well and made everyone look ****. Just cos he did the sh*ttest out of all the sh*t doesn't make him sh*t if you get more point.

He averages 47 in tests, 56 at home, 42 away. has 16 tons and 31 50's. He averages 56 in England, 44 in South Africa, 52 in Pakistan, 44 in Aus, 50 in NZ, 38 in SL, 20 in India and 8.5 in the UAE. He couldn't play ajmal i think we all know that, i'm sure he'll be working on that. But you don't get rid of a man with an outstanding record like that on the back of one bad series v one bowler.

I forgot to mention that Bell was nailed on to get runs vs windies this summer.  If he gets some serious runs v saffers this summer then i'll take everything back, but somehow I just know he won't, not if he's under any pressure.  If we (and it's not beyond the realms of possibility) do thrash the saffers like we did india last summer then i've no doubt he'll score heavily, but if it's a real ding dong battle then i doubt he will.  Nothing against the guy, he's just a blatant bottler, don't know why anyone would deny it - and I'm as patriotic as the next england fan.

He scored some good innings v SA in SA last time when England were up against it. Just trotting out ' he's a bottler ' despite the facts being pointed out to you is a bit lazy imo.

well it is subjective wurzel so what facts exactly could disprove my point so fantastically?  The only way to truly analyse him would be to go through every innings in his career and somehow rate each innings in terms of how well he did in relation to the pressure of the situation (which of course would be subjective in itself) and then compare that to a similar rating of his peers, I am too lazy to do this so you're right in that sense, still think he's a bottler mind, anyway i did mention about south africa and i think this thread has come up with about 3 decent innnigs, perhaps 4, under pressure.  I said that wasn't much of a return over his career - especially when compared to kp, trott and cook, and probably strauss too.  So I've listened and maintained my original stance.  He is mentally weak under pressure imo - why does it hurt people so much to say that out loud, it is blindingly obvious imo.  I've nothing against him at all.

If bell got out in the last test match with england 50 odd for 4 everyone would say look he bottles it again under pressure. Instead he gets 60 odd not out and see's england home in a tricky little run chase and everyone says, it's to be expected. No one mentions that trott, strauss and kp all bottled it.

Your talking nonsense bob, give me examples of where he's specifically bottled it in comparison to the rest of the team in the last few years and maybe your argument might have some credence, continue to jabber on that "he's a bottle he's a bottle" and it has none.

No one accuses Strauss, Trott and KP of bottling it in the last Test, because they were facing a fired-up Roach, Fiddy and Gabriel.

Bell faced Sammy and Samuels for all bar 4 balls.

is that his fault?

Composed 50 from Bell after coming in with the side under pressure at 49 for 3.

Clutching at straws claiming that was proper pressure today

Bell certainly isn't going to dropped anytime soon - will be interested to see how he goes.

Oh, proper pressure, so it's proper pressure when he fails, and not real pressure when he suceeds. Talk about pick and choose.

I personally think Bell's batting style brings this kind of criticism on himself. He looks so good when he's scoring runs and makes it look so easy, that everyone assumes it's easy and there's no pressure, therefor it appears that he only succeeds when he's not under pressure.

none

today Vs West Indies he was shocking...

100.3
Kallis to Bell, no run, 125.6 kph, outside off, this one doesn't swing and it's left
100.4
Kallis to Bell, OUT, 124.2 kph, gone! He's left it and been bowled. Wonderful set-up by Kallis. After the outswing he brings one back into Bell who shoulders arms and the ball brushes the off bail with just enough force to dislodge it. South Africa initially appeal for lbw before realising it was bowled.
IR Bell b Kallis 13 (56b 2x4 0x6) SR: 23.21

Just as predicted. Gift him cheap runs against the W Indies to ensure he keeps his place, and this is how he rewards you.

... Looking very solid against Steyn now on Sunday evening. Would be delighted if he batted through to lunch tomorrow and proved me wrong ...

Typically weak and gutless dismissal from the ridiculous dwarf when his team needs him.

said I'd never call him a bottler again if he saved the Oval test 2 weeks ago...

But he didnt.

STILL A MASSIVE MASSIVE BOTTLER. FACT. ETC..

When t

When t

When the going gets tough Bell is nowhere to be seen.

A good player when you are on top but rarely performs when your backs are up against the wall.

Almost, but not quite.

Bottling Brummie Bellend

18.3
Philander to Bell, OUT, 129.2 kph, gone! Smith juggled it but held on at the second attempt. Bell flashing away outside off stump to a back-of-a-length delivery and the top flies towards first slip where it jumps out Smith's hands but he stays calm and grabs the rebound
IR Bell c Smith b Philander 4 (37b 0x4 0x6) SR: 10.81

Just how incompetent is a management team that manages to lose Trescothick and Pietersen, yet stands by Strauss and Bell?

The worst shot in over a century of Test cricket.

Meanwhile, in comes Ian Bell
32.4
Ojha to Bell, OUT, and out goes Ian Bell. Did he spend the last 50 minutes thinking he is going to dance down the wicket first ball and go over mid-off? Sure felt like that. First ball, turning wicket, he wants to beat the spinners off their rhythm. Doesn't quite get to the pitch of it, the ball doesn't bounce as high as he expects, and it goes off the bottom part for easy catch to mid-off. Imploding, are England
IR Bell c Tendulkar b Ojha 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

Bellis a fkin bottler.  Pathetic.

The guy is all at sea in the sub continent - does not have the game to deal with spin in these conditions. I was a bit surprised he was picked for this test.

Anyhow hope he gets runs in the 2nd innings but im not holding my breath sadly.

At least our openers have made a bit of a fight of it so far, need to bat the whole of tomorrow and a fair bit of monday to save the match.

Only bright spot is the mi**** Midlands midget already having bottled out of the 2nd Test to attend a birth.

*mis - hitting

Cricinfo: Bell's first-ball dismissal was mental frailty dressed up as aggressive intent, an attempt to dance down the wicket to strike Ojha down the ground ending in a mis-hit off the bottom of the bat to Sachin Tendulkar at mid-off. To call it rabbit-in-the-headlights stuff was an insult to rabbits. It has yet to be proved that a rabbit sits in its burrow proclaiming: "I am going to be a tough rabbit, I am going to be an adventurous rabbit. I have no idea about the speed of the car or the lie of the road, I am going to take on this car from the start, come what may." Or maybe they do and they are the ones that get splattered.

useless

Would have been more use to England if he had missed the flight back to India!

Sorry Bell you are hopeless on the sub continent

He will score runs against New Zealand so everything will be hunky dory.

screaming from beneaththewaves     13 Apr 12 20:28 
Well, we're not going to find out who could replace Bell unless he makes way for someone else.

Rather than gift Bell some cheap runs at home to the W Indies [read NZ away] this spring, this is the opportunity to ease Ben Stokes or Jos Buttler or Jonny Bairstow into Test cricket. Otherwise you're just rewarding Bell for his failures, leaving potential replacements having to face S Africa or India away [read Australia at home] for their debuts.

Fck me. Nearly a year on and we're right back where we started.

Well fair play to the lad, batted well and definitely surprised me as looked all at sea up until today.

More cheap runs for Bell .That should cement his place for another 2 years

I love watching Bell bat ( when he makes runs! ) but I agree with Screaming.  His average is padded with cheap runs against the lesser lights.  For a long time he never made the first century of the inning. His incosistency will stop the team developning and I think others deserve a chance particularly against NZ as The Convicts are coming up in the summer.  We already know what we need to know about Bell.

How much longer must we tolerate this ignorant, dismal dwarf?

9.4
I Sharma to Bell, OUT, caught at third-man! Oh there comes a wicket! Bell, from nowhere, decides to give Ishant a charge and tries to hit it straight down the ground. But he doesn't really get to the pitch of the ball and it takes a healthy top-edge that goes high towards third-man where Bhuvi takes a well-judged catch
IR Bell c Kumar b I Sharma 10 (25b 2x4 0x6) SR: 40.00

Can I also add the names of Morgan and Dernbach to Bell's as players who should not be in the current team.

Hales should be opening instead of Bell, but England think he is only a 20/20 player so that's that one over before it starts.

The last time England played in sub continent Morgan had a nightmare so well done England for putting him through it again

Dernbach - lol, I still cannot believe how on earth he has blagged his way into international cricket!!!

Giles has not impressed me at all with his selections so far......

All of this on Bell,wept.

You can add Patel to the list.

How can you compare bell to morgan, dernbach, patel etc?  Bell nas played about eighty tests ffs and has stood up to be counted, inder pressure, I mean reall delivered, what three, four times?  Morgan was awful against pakistan and got dropped. bell was equally clueless and has played ever since (bar a short omission to see the birth of his child which he missed anyway) and has done little in that period.  Talking test cricket here.  Morgan clearly deserves his place in the one day team for now.

How can you compare bell to morgan, dernbach, patel etc?  Bell nas played about eighty tests ffs and has stood up to be counted, inder pressure, I mean reall delivered, what three, four times?  Morgan was awful against pakistan and got dropped. bell was equally clueless and has played ever since (bar a short omission to see the birth of his child which he missed anyway) and has done little in that period.  Talking test cricket here.  Morgan clearly deserves his place in the one day team for now.

The guy is a complete waste of space.

Walking wicket. Needs the GTF Biscuit.

this useless bloke played 80 tests

Averaging 32 since 2011,

75 in just under 6 hours, which took 271 balls, is the point of Ian Bell, when most importantly, it was needed. He has been out of form, which happens to everyone at some time or another.

Great disciplined innings from Bell - obviously out of form he dug in to give England a chance of saving the game.

Well done to bell yesterday.  I think that is now 4 fighting innings under pressure in nine years.

Hahahaha!

Too make sure matches go into 4th day?

Best English bat by a country mile

another pathetic series by this world class batsman, don't worry he,ll be back amongst the runs against sri lanka I suppose

Pretty sure without Bell, Aus would be looking at back to back 5-0 Ashes wins...  He won you the Ashes in England off his own bat, with zero help from anybody.

Has this clown Dylan ever made a good point?