When England begin their World Cup campaign on Valentine’s Day next year Ian Bell will be approaching 33. It will be his third and, probably, last, and Bell is acutely aware that, while he has become one of England’s most reliable and classy Test batsmen, his one-day record is underwhelming. Having played almost 150 ODIs, he averages 36 and has scored only three centuries.
Nothing focuses the mind quite as much as a last chance and in his usual unemotional way Bell senses the opportunity a winter without any Test cricket gives him to turn his one-day record round. “It will be my third World Cup and in the last two we haven’t put in the performances that justify an England shirt,” he admits. “Hopefully this is an opportunity to do that.
“The feeling of getting to the ICC Champions Trophy final at Edgbaston last year with all that support was amazing and I know we’ll get great support again in Australia. So, if we can get through, who knows? I know a lot of people have written us off but it is not a bad place to be.”
England begin their World Cup preparation with seven one-day internationals against Sri Lanka and, while the playing conditions will be very different from those they will encounter in Australia and New Zealand next year, Bell is clear about the relevance of the series. “The important thing for us in Sri Lanka is to get back to winning ways because winning is a habit and we need to know our best XI,” he says.
“For the first time I can remember we’re building up for one-day cricket and we’re going to get to a World Cup mentally and physically fresh and with our full focus on one-day cricket, which is a good opportunity for us. This winter is an exciting one and, if you’re not up for a challenge, then you shouldn’t be here.
“We’re now 100% focused on one-day cricket and I can’t remember an England team where that has been the case. Everything is about one-day cricket – skills, understanding each other’s game inside out, which is important.”
As with every discussion about England’s one-day cricket, the question of tactics and approach comes up. Last Friday Alastair Cook was reluctant to say a change of method to play more aggressively was required. Bell, however, sees things a little differently from his captain.
“We’re lucky to be able to pull on the England shirt and go and have a crack. There is a lot of hard work to be done but when we get out there we’ve got to be aggressive, we’ve got to be fearless and give it everything. I think people would rather see us be aggressive and lose instead of being timid and come away with nothing. Everyone’s mind-set is to play aggressively. We just have to be ready to be adaptable on different surfaces where there will be all sorts of different par scores.”
Bell was speaking the day after Rohit Sharma’s record-breaking innings of 264 and he was keen to emphasise what that knock showed – that there are many ways to win an ODI and it is not all about getting off to an aggressive start. “India didn’t get off to an absolute flying start and what Sharma did really well is what we have talked about before. He batted the 50 overs and that was the important thing. The way he scored at the end, that is possible for all our players, but you have to bat that time.
“This World Cup is wide open and we’ve got to be up for the challenge and give it a real hard crack.”
Ian Bell was speaking at the announcement of the Royal London sponsorship launch with the PCA benevolent fund
