Ian Bell

Ian Ronald Bell (born 11 April 1982) is an English former cricketer who played international cricket in all formats for the England cricket team and county cricket for Warwickshire County Cricket Club.

A right-handed higher/middle order batsman, described in The Times as an "exquisite rapier," with a strong cover drive, Bell was also an occasional right-arm medium pace bowler and a slip fielder.

He was also noted for his sharp reflexes and often fielded in close catching positions.

He scored twenty-two Test centuries and four One Day International (ODI) 100s.

The centuries in both innings against Lancashire were the first by a Warwickshire batsman against an authentic attack (David Hemp achieved the feat against declaration bowling) since Brian Lara in 1994.

This run of form led to him being brought into the England Test squad when Graham Thorpe was left doubtful with a finger injury.

Bell made his international debut in the final match of the Test series against the West Indies at The Oval.

He hit 70, batting at number five in England's first innings; he was not required to bat again as England forced the West Indies to follow on and won the game by ten wickets.

Bell was selected as part of the squad to tour Zimbabwe and South Africa and he made his One Day International debut alongside Kevin Pietersen against Zimbabwe at Harare.

Bell opened the innings and hit 75, which earned him his first ODI man-of-the-match award.

Bell made three appearances for Warwickshire's second team in 1998, his next matches at senior level were with the England Under-19 cricket team on their tour of New Zealand that winter.

He made 91 in the first innings of the first Test, and 115 in the first innings of the third; Dayle Hadlee called Bell "the best 16-year-old I've ever seen", and he was often compared with former England captain Mike Atherton.

By this time Bell had made his first-class debut, appearing in a single match for the Warwickshire first team in September 1999, but was out for a duck in his only innings and played no further part at that level until 2000/01, when he followed on from his Under-19 matches by playing for England A against the Leeward Islands in the Busta Cup tournament game in Anguilla.

Bell played in several more Under-19 series, captaining the team at home against Sri Lanka in 2000, in their 2000/01 tour of India, and for the first match at home against West Indies in 2001.

Bell broke into the Warwickshire first-team in 2001 as he scored 836 runs in 16 innings including three centuries and two scores of 98.

His first century, a score of 130 against Oxford UCCE, made him the county's youngest ever centurion at 19 years and 56 days.

He also became the county's youngest capped player ever when Warwickshire awarded him a county cap on the final day of the season.

Bell was named in the first intake of the ECB National Academy who spent the 2001/02 winter in Australia.

The day after he returned home from Adelaide he was brought into the full England Test squad to cover for the injured Mark Butcher on the New Zealand tour.

In 2002 Bell's four-day form fell away as he scored 658 at an average of 24.37 however he was instrumental in the county's Benson & Hedges Cup success.

He top-scored in the Quarter-final (scoring 85 not out), Semi-final (46) and Final (65 not out), the latter performance winning him the Gold Award in the last ever Benson & Hedges Cup final.

Bell's best form in 2003 once again came in the one-day format, he scored 779 runs at 28.85 in the County Championship compared to 560 runs at 43.07 in the National League, his best performance came at Chelmsford where he scored his maiden one-day century, 125 off 113 deliveries, as well as taking 5/41, his best one-day bowling figures.

This was only the second time a Warwickshire player had achieved this feat.

After two poor seasons Bell was back to his best in 2004, he scored 1498 Championship runs which included six centuries.

One of the six was a career-best 262 not out against Sussex; the innings lasting ten minutes short of ten hours made him the county's youngest ever double-centurion.

In late July he began an impressive sequence of four centuries in five first-class innings, the other being a score of 96 not out.

In the 2006 New Year Honours List, Bell was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for his role in the successful Ashes campaign of 2005.

In November 2006, he was awarded the Emerging Player of the Year award by the International Cricket Council.

During 2008 and 2009, he was a more infrequent member of the England teams – however he reclaimed his Test place during the 2009 Ashes, which England won, and featured in several ODIs the following year.

During 2010, he captained Warwickshire to victory in the CB40 final before scoring his first Ashes century the following winter as he helped England retain the Ashes down-under.

Warwickshire County Cricket Club awarded Bell a benefit in 2011.

In July 2012, Bell signed a new three-year contract with Warwickshire extending his stay at the club at least till 2015.

In November 2015, England selectors announced that Bell would be dropped from the English side ahead of the test series with South Africa.

In August 2016, it was announced that Bell would be playing for the Perth Scorchers in the 2016–17 Big Bash League season.

In August 2018, Bell scored his 20,000th run in first-class cricket.

In September 2020, Bell announced his retirement, revealing that his final game for Warwickshire would be a T20 match against Glamorgan.

Bell's family hailed from Dunchurch, near Rugby and he played for the local cricket club as a junior.

Bell was educated at Princethorpe College, a Roman Catholic independent school in the nearby village of Princethorpe and made the 1st XI in year 7.

He also attended Coventry City's football school of excellence, despite being a supporter of Aston Villa (those two football clubs are traditional rivals ), and played for Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club.

His brother Keith, born two years later, has played amateur cricket for Staffordshire, and has also played seven games for the Warwickshire Second XI.