The Ashes: Whither Ian Bell?
Had you considered that Ian Bell might actually score some runs against Australia when he replaces the “recently injured” Kevin Pietersen* at Edgbaston?
No, of course you hadn’t. It goes against every fibre of reason and every rational thought. To clarify, we are talking proper, bona-fide runs – not the 20s or 30s he usually scores. With this in mind, here is some food for thought:
Australia’s bowling has been proper rubbish so far in this series. Martin McCague rubbish. Even at Cardiff they weren’t brilliant, although England’s efforts made them look it. At Lord’s they served up so many pies that Mike Gatting was seen strapping his pads on.
Edgbaston is his home ground. He knows the way there and which door to go through to reach the middle, which is clearly a decent start. Just removing those stresses should add 15 runs.
Now that is not to say that Ian Bell is guaranteed to break all run-scoring records, because that would clearly be ridiculous. But he might fancy scoring a few boundaries through point when Mitchell Johnson bowls.
*Quotemarks added for ironic emphasis, since it has been revealed that the ECB were aware of KP’s achilles injury during the tour to West Indies in February. Since when it has allowed him to play the remainder of that tour, the IPL, the home tour against West Indies and the World Twenty20.
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