Ian Bell hopes England can put down a marker for the World Cup by beating a depleted Australia in Hobart on Friday.
Bell has enjoyed a renaissance as a one-day player after being chosen to resume an opening batsman’s role on this tour.
The 32-year-old smashed 187 against a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra last week but was bowled first ball by Mitchell Starc during the first match of the Tri-Series in Sydney last Friday.
England recovered with a nine-wicket victory against India in Brisbane on Tuesday, with Bell scoring 88 during an unbeaten 131-run stand with James Taylor that saw their side chase down 154 at the Gabba.
Now Bell and his team-mates are eager to follow that up with a win over Australia at the Bellerive Oval.
The hosts are without key players in Mitchell Johnson, who has missed the trip for personal reasons, David Warner, who is rested, Shane Watson, ruled out today with a tight hamstring, and George Bailey, the stand-in captain banned for slow over-rate offences.
It gives England a great opportunity to beat opponents they will face in their World Cup opener in Melbourne on 14 February.
“For us every game is important as we build up towards that World Cup,” Bell said. “We didn’t start the game great against Australia last time so it’d be nice to start the game well and have a good 100 overs for us as we did against India.
“I’ve played in teams that when you start getting on a roll that momentum, that belief goes with you. But the guys are in a good place.
“Beating Australia in this series is a good start if we can do that going into Melbourne. But looking around, with the confidence and mood we have, as a group we’re in a good place. Every time you play against Australia you want to win. This would be a good time to start.”
Asked about Australia being depleted, Bell replied: “I’ve not thought about that to be honest. For us it’s putting it all together. The other night we put a batting, bowling and fielding display together for the first time in a while so it’s about doing that again. I doesn’t matter what 11 Australia put out we just want to play to the standard we did the other night in Brisbane. If we do that, we believe we can beat any team we come up against in the world.”
Bell was also questioned about the hot topic of the moment – sledging. “I think it’s probably over-talked about to be honest,” he said. “You don’t want people to go over the line but generally I’ve seen it be managed quite well.
“You want cricket to be aggressive, you want it to be a contest – that’s what it’s about.
Sometimes you get carried away with all this talk about sledging, it’s about competing and winning and doing your job. So as long as you don’t go over that line everything’s fine.”
One player who will be playing on Friday is Starc, who also dismissed Taylor during Australia’s three-wicket win in Sydney last week.
“We’ll prepare for left-arm bowling – Australia potentially have three left-armers so that goes into your thinking before the game,” Bell said. “But Mitchell Starc is bowling well at the minute so we’re going to have to play him well. Having played quite a bit against him in Test cricket and the one-dayers he swings the ball nicely. He’s a class act.”
Steve Smith will captain Australia in Bailey’s absence, the 25-year-old reprising the role he took during the recent Test series against India, when he stood in for the injured Michael Clarke in the final three games.
“I’m looking forward to the game,” Smith said. “There’s always that great rivalry playing against England. It’s very disappointing for George Bailey not to be here. Boof [coach Darren Lehmann] gave us a pretty big rocket after last game and that [the over rate] is something that we’re going to have to improve on.
“We’re playing some very good cricket at the moment. England played a very good game the other day against India.
“That was a full-package victory for them. They’re a quality side with some very dangerous players.”
On Watson, replaced in the Australia squad on Thursday by Moisés Henriques, Smith added: “Watto’s a bit tight in the hamstring. I don’t think it’s anything too major. It’s more of a precautionary measure to make sure he’s right for the World Cup.
“We’re not 100% sure of the XI yet. But Shaun Marsh is going to bat up the top with Aaron Finch. He bowled this morning.”
