Ian Bell

Ian Bell was born Walsgrave in 1982 and is a right-handed middle-order batsman. Besides being an excellent batter, Bell is also noted for his incredible reflexes, which make him a prized asset in the field. 

He started playing County Cricket for his local side Warwickshire in 1999, but he established himself in 2001 when scoring 836 runs in 16 innings. However, following his debut for the national side in 2004, Bell has only sporadically appeared for Warwickshire.

His debut came against the West Indies. He did well to hit 70, and then faced Bangladesh in 2005, scoring 65 and 162 not out in his respective innings, and earning himself a spot in the 2005 Ashes side. The victorious Ashes series was a high point for all the players except Bell, as he managed just 171 runs in the five matches, making the player doubt his own ability.

Bell was in and out of the team until the 2006 test with Pakistan, when he replaced the injured Andrew Flintoff. He scored three successive centuries and finished the series with an average of 93.75. This form merited him a place in what was the disastrous 2006/2007 Ashes series.

Up until 2009, Bell was either in the squad or on the cusp of it. Like Ravi Bopara he struggled to lay down a marker. It wasn't until the third test of the 2009 Ashes that Bell was reinstated, but again he failed to cement his spot. Later that year he went on the South Africa tour where he had a 199 knock but also cheap dismissals. In the 2010/2011 Ashes he finally broke his Ashes century duck and by 2011 he had finally ironed out his flaws, and started to look like the incredible player you see today.

In the 2011 4-0 whitewash of India, Bell was vital; he scored two centuries as he helped England to become the number one ranked Test side in the world. Subsequent tests against Pakistan and India were steady but unspectacular.

It was the 2013 Ashes series during which Bell immortalised himself in English cricket. In the first game he hit 109, and England won that match by 14 runs. In the second match, Bell walked in at the crease with England on 28-3. He then methodically stroked 109 runs, and in his second innings he hit 74 as England won by 374 runs. Bell hit 562 runs in that Ashes series, 144 more than his nearest rival.

In total, Bell has hit twenty centuries for England. 

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