England Cricket / Ralph Ellis / 21 August 2008 / Leave a comment

After all the doom and gloom surrounding English football, we thought the cricketers might be able to cheer us up. Betfair went to find Ian Bell watching the rain and waiting for the One Day series against South Africa to start for an exclusive chat.

Hi Ian, so with the Test series over you can probably look back at your 199 at Lord's with a bit of context. Are you still gutted it wasn't 200?

Yes, to be honest. I was desperate to score a double hundred and to get that a Lord's would have been a dream. People keep telling me, 'you'll be remembered more for 199 than you would for 200'. If that's a good thing or a bad thing I don't know. I guess I would have been glad of it before the series - it was something that I hadn't done for England, which I had for Warwickshire, when I'd got in to go on and make a really big score. So I suppose it was a breakthrough for me in those terms

Did you get stick off the boys?

No, not really. I think they were on tiptoes around me for a while because it was a bit of a touchy subject, but mixed feelings really. I was pleased as anything to do that, certainly it was one of the highlights of my career so far, so fingers crossed I'm at the age where I've got a chance of getting another and putting that one to bed.

Has it changed your feeling of confidence about yourself?

I think it has. I always believed I had the ability to do that sort of thing, but believing it and going out and doing it is different. For me that innings was really a blueprint of how I want to go out and play my Test match cricket, how I batted, the tempo, the patience, the way I put away the bad ball. That's how I see myself and how I want to develop the game and play. I'm desperate to keep improving. That's one thing I think is great with Peter Moores and Andy Flower being around, they are not going to let me stand still. After that score I think I got to number 13 in the world and I want to break into the top ten and keep developing and moving forward. If I can do that it's good for me and good for the team as well.

You went in at number three in the last Test and we read that Kevin Pietersen has told people he's got specific roles in mind for them. Is that yours?

I hope so in Test cricket, but I guess that The Oval was a bit of a one off because we're not playing Tests for a while. Obviously they were very keen for me to bat three in that match, it didn't quite go to plan I know, but again if I get the opportunity - and I'm sure if that's what they want they will give me a run of games to get used to it at that level - I'd like to take the chance. Number three is where all the really big players have batted at Test level. I'd like to take on the challenge of doing that.

After the Scotland game it looks like you'll be opening in the One Day matches though?

I see myself more as a number three than an opener, but to be honest in one day cricket and Twenty20 particularly there's not much of a difference. You can lose a wicket in the first over and you are in anyway. I'd see myself as a three, but if Kevin wants to push Owais Shah in there then I'm happy. We've all got to fit in around what's best for the team. Hopefully in this part of my career, with 40 odd Test matches and 70 odd one dayers behind me, it's maybe time to make one of the places my own and start to stay in one position for longer

You've only got one century in those 70 odd one day games. Is that another thing you need to change?

Without a shadow, I need to improve on that. You look at the best teams in the world; Australia, South Africa, the best players score 100s in one day cricket and it's important, certainly in the top three, for the team that one of us goes through and gets 100s. That gives you the platform.

What's different about the one day game?

To be honest you can overcomplicate one day cricket. Test cricket is a very simple form, you have to score as many runs as you can and bowl the other team out twice. Sometimes you can over complicate the one day game, and as batters we need to just recognise the fact. With Freddie Flintoff back in the fold we are going to have a pretty good one day attack, and it's important we give the guys the opportunity by getting runs. If we get the runs on the board we'll give ourselves a good opportunity of winning one day cricket matches, certainly the top three or four have got to go out and get 100s

Will the Test win give England some momentum to go on?

Hope so. It's why we've been annoyed about the rain. It was important to win that match not only for the one dayers, but for a bit of personal pride. I think we wanted to show people that we were desperate to get back on track. Any time you play for England and put the shirt on you never know when it might be your last Test match. I know the series was gone but it was still important for individuals. Also looking back you realise how close we were to winning the series. We should have won first at Lord's, and it was 50-50 at Edgbaston. If we'd gone from there at 1-1 it might have been different.

So anything you've seen in their game you can exploit?

They are pretty strong all round, but I guess the one thing they don't have is a spinner that will bowl you out like Shane Warne, although but not many people do have. Only Sri Lanka do that!

Thanks for your time, and we've a free 50 GBP bet for your favourite charity.

I'll put that towards the ECB's Chance to Shine campaign which is trying to help more kids at state schools learn to play the game. The more we get playing at grass roots level the more chance we have of finding top batsmen and bowlers. As for the bet I'll go for Aston Villa to win at Stoke at [1.77]. They've always been my team and I think Martin O'Neill has made some good signings this summer - hopefully with more to come.

Tags: Betfair, cricket betting, England cricket, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, ODI Betting, South Africa