It's time Bell's Brilliance was Told
Posted: Monday, August 12, 2013 by Anonymous in Labels: Alastair Cook, Ashes, Cricket, England, England vs Australia, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Others, Test, Warwickshire
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So, surely now it's time the Warwickshire star is heralded as one of England's most important players by Ashes betting pundits? Because if he doesn't get the praise now, he never will.
Bell has had to endure plenty of stick - some of it wholly unjustified - as he has risen up the ranks and he is now finally looked upon as a mainstay in Andy Flower's side as they aim to continue their push to win the Ashes outright once again.
His consistent performances this summer - Bell has now joined an elite list of men who have managed three centuries in the Ashes - means he has a very real chance of being named 'Man of the Series' and his knock in Chester-le-Street may well end up swinging the fourth Test England's way.
His crucial intervention was all the more impressive coming as it did when the usual go-to men, like Kevin Pietersen, skipper Alastair Cook or Jonathan Trott, were struggling with their own games and not looking like providing the much-needed inspiration.
Basically, England badly needed someone to step up to the plate and Bell was the man who came forward to enhance his somewhat unjustified reputation as a workmanlike batsman rather than one of the star turns.
Bell may not be quite like a Jimmy Anderson, Pietersen, or Stuart Broad and is unlikely to ever be a player who will generate the headlines regularly, but his quiet self-assuredness and consistent high scoring certainly means you cannot ignore him.
Just ask the Aussies that. But he also deserves more acclaim from cricket fans after proving he is, after all, the man for the big occasion and one England will look to rely on when the chips our down again in the future.