The Ashes: Is the Bell about to toll?
Ian Bell has just reached his fifty from the third ball after lunch. England are four wickets down, Strauss and Collingwood having fallen in the morning session. The Test is in the balance, a result is still possible even if a draw is the most likely outcome. What happens next?
Despite usually being critical of him, I had suggested before the Test began that Bell might score some runs here – Edgbaston is his home ground, and the Australian attack is not the greatest. Now he has a chance to make a statement. Never has he scored a Test century without another senior batsman scoring one as well.
The next couple of hours could be the making of Ian Bell in international cricket. But will he be able to take the opportunity, the chance to stamp his name all over this Test match? If this latest phase of his career is to be anything more than an exercise in keeping Kevin Pietersen’s seat warm, he needs to.
Update: 5 minutes after writing this post, Bell was out lbw to Mitchell Johnson for 53. So, no this is not the making of Ian Bell in international cricket.
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