Ian Bell      

Full name Ian Ronald Bell

Born April 11, 1982, Walsgrave, Coventry, Warwickshire

Current age 27 years 210 days

Major teams England, Marylebone Cricket Club, 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

Relation Brother - KD Bell

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.

When in form, he is particularly adept at leaving the ball outside off stump, and he 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. 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, but an unproductive winter saw him dropped after the first Test of the West Indies tour. He returned midway through the Ashes, however, and responded with a pair of half-centuries in three Tests, including a gutsy 72 on the first day of the final Test at The Oval.
Andrew MillerOctober 2009

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

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Aug 26, 2009

Ajmal Shahzad kisses the stumps as he celebrates the wicket of Ian Bell

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Aug 20, 2009

Ian Bell plays on

© PA Photos

Aug 20, 2009

Peter Siddle takes his third wicket as Ian Bell finds two of his stumps left standing

© PA Photos

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