Bell ringing in selectors' ears

Ian Bell advances towards 172 against Somerset at Taunton, which gave a clear indication of his fine early-season form

Ian Bell hopes his early-season form will catapult him back into the England selectors’ reckoning for the upcoming series against West Indies.

Warwickshire batsman Bell cracked the first LV= County Championship hundred of the season earlier this week to mark a return to competitive action after eight weeks of frustration in the Caribbean.

Although the 27-year-old failed in the weather-hit season opener between MCC and Durham, his 172 against Somerset at Taunton was a timely nudge to the England hierarchy.

Selection plans were discussed yesterday but plans to name the squad tomorrow for the two May Tests against the West Indies have been delayed.

Bell suffered the axe in the aftermath of the humiliation in Jamaica in early February and did not feature against West Indies again in any contest, which meant he returned to the UK on April 4 with a determination to get back into the middle and prosper.

“People have said to me that it happens to all the best players - they have a bit of time out and come back stronger - but the only thing I can say is that when it happens and you have to sit on the whole tour and watch, it does make you feel pretty bad and you realise how good you’ve got it when you’re in that team all the time,” Bell said.

“Certainly when you get the next chance you should not take it for granted.

“We have seen the way Andrew Strauss has come back in the team now and sometimes it isn’t the worst thing to step back and get your game refreshed.

“It hurts like hell but I am looking forward to scoring lots of runs for Warwickshire.”

Unlike the last time he was dropped from the Test team - for the home series against Sri Lanka in 2006 - he did not have an outlet for his frustration this winter, and so turned to sunrise fitness drills on the beach to take his mind off his lot.
“When you have been part of a team for a long time it hurts not to be playing,” Bell explained. “You are so desperate to get out there.

Bell was a spectator for much of the West Indies tour after losing his Test spot to Owais Shah and his one-day place

“There are only certain things you can get away and do when you’re on tour.

“I ended up working seriously hard on my fitness - for the last month or so I did a hell of a lot of work with Reg Dickason, our security guard, on martial arts stuff.

“That was brilliant for me and was what helped me take my mind off other things which were quite frustrating. I wanted to come back as fit as I could to make sure I got something out of the tour.”

Former captain Michael Vaughan’s resignation last August handed Bell the opportunity to claim the number three spot in the Test team but he could not take advantage in three appearances before arrival in the Caribbean.

Following England’s capitulation to 51 all out at Sabina Park, which proved the defining moment of the 1-0 series defeat, Owais Shah was preferred to Bell for the rest of the series.

“There is always someone under the pump in the team of whom there are also questions being asked,” Bell said.

“I knew it was my turn and I was desperate to score as many runs as possible.

“Whether that got in the way of me playing my natural game - when I play at my best everything flows naturally - and made me try too hard I am not sure.

“But I do know that sometimes when you try too hard things don’t work out.

“Although after Jamaica it was frustrating not to get another go to put things right, there had to be changes because that is how it is.”