Even before the debacle in Jamaica, the heat was on Ian Bell. If he wasn't already drinking in the last-chance saloon, it was only because the selectors were showing an astonishing degree of loyalty in him. Most people thought he should have made way for Owais Shah for the first Test so all eyes were upon him, and after becoming perhaps the most culpable failure in a collective meltdown, the pressure has surely now been ratcheted up to breaking point.
Some might say Bell's remarkable ability to hang around the team is because he's an Ashes Hero (although his personal performances in 2005 weren't exactly heroic), and the selectors are obsessed with the Ashes Heroes, but to that I would say look at Matthew Hoggard. Poor old Hoggy must be sitting at home in the snow, wondering why, after six years as England's most consistent bowler, he was dropped
after one poor performance, whereas Bell has been allowed three years of mediocrity since he last strung together some good form for the national side. I'm forced to conclude that Bell has some incriminating pictures of Geoff Miller or some other ECB hotshot, as otherwise I'm just not sure why he's been afforded this much leeway. Some say he needs to go away, rediscover his groove and then come back, but I'm not sure I'd be so generous. Long-term, I don't think Bell has an England future.
Just look at the statistics. In 43 Tests he has scored 2,923 runs at a shade over 40. Not terrible, you might say, but neither is it proportionate to the amount of natural talent the man evidently has. For someone who was earmarked as a future Best Batsman in the World at an incredibly early age, it's not a tremendous average. It is also falling inexorably year-on-year. To illustrate this point, I only went and drew a graph:
What this graph demonstrates is a) Bell's average is gradually sinking, and b) I possibly have too much time on my hands.
He has eight hundreds, which again is not too bad, but closer inspection raises further questions. Bell has only once scored over 130, his 199 against South Africa at Lord's last summer, while, astonishingly, he has never been the first England batsman to reach three figures in an innings. More worrying still are his dismal averages against two of the world's top teams: 25 in 10 Tests against Australia, and 24 in 8 Tests versus India, with no hundreds against either. Those facts seem to be indicative of a dodgy temperament - under pressure, when asked to carry the innings, or against high-quality bowling attacks, he has been unable to respond. Bell is undoubtedly blessed with more natural talent than the majority of his peers, but mentally he is just not cut out for the highest level.
So Bell is perhaps destined to join the illustrious company of Mark Ramprakash and Graeme Hick as England players who really ought to have swept all before them, but couldn't. Test cricket is an unforgiving environment, and not everyone can handle it. The England selectors would do well to remember that.
Ask not for whom the Bell tolls Ian, it tolls for thee.
- Adam
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