Ian Bell is an English cricketer who was born in Warwickshire on April 11, 1982. For the English cricket team, he appeared in both forms of the game. He bats right-handed in the top order and bowls right-arm medium pace part-time.
Bell has a great temperament and is a technically sound batsman. In the slips, he’s also a fine fielder. He is one of the few batsmen to score a century in a test match against any test-playing nation (excluding Zimbabwe).
Background
Bell began his cricket career in 1998, when he was a member of the England Under-19 cricket team on a tour of New Zealand. Dayle Hadlee nicknamed Bell “the best 16-year-old I have ever seen” for his excellent performances in this film. In September 1999, Bell made his first-class debut for Warwickshire.
Bell has spent his entire county cricket career with Warwickshire. From 1998 to 2001, he was a key member of England’s Under-19 cricket team. From 2004 to 2009, he was a member of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
Debut
In August 2004, Bell made his Test debut against the West Indies, scoring 70 runs in his only innings. In November 2004, he made his One-Day International debut against Zimbabwe. Bell received the Man of the Match award in his first ODI after bowling a match-winning innings of 75 runs to help England win.
In 2006, he made his T20 debut against Pakistan, scoring 13 runs in England’s defeat.
Rise to Glory
Bell rose to fame after a superb success in the two-Test series against Bangladesh, where he made 65 not out and 162 not out in his two innings. He became the first English cricketer to score over 100 runs before lunch in a Test match since Leslie Ames in 1935.
In the three-match Test series against Pakistan, he continued his strong form by scoring a century and two half-centuries. With 313 runs at an average of 52.16, he was England’s leading run scorer.
Low Points
Bell had a weak 2005 Ashes campaign, scoring just 17.10 in five matches, including a pair of 0s at the Oval (score of 0 in both innings of a Test match).
Records
Bell has 7727 runs at an average of 42.69 in 118 Tests, including 22 centuries. Bell has 5416 runs at an average of 37.87 in 160 One-Day Internationals. In one-day internationals, he is England’s top run scorer.
Bell was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 New Year Honours and received the ICC Emerging Player of the Year award.
For his outstanding performance during the 2013 Ashes, he was named Man of the Series.