PEDESTRIAN BELL NOW FINDS HIMSELF IN LIMBO

BetweeN lunch and tea on the second day of the third test, Ian Bell batted as if his career depended on it. Perhaps, in his mind, it did.

england’s selectors will not necessarily make the decision for him: this remains an inexperienced batting line-up, and Bell has 22 of the team’s 34 test hundreds that have not been scored by Alastair Cook.

But, watching him knuckle down out here in the UAe, it has been hard to forget his own deliberations after the Ashes, when he considered calling it a day. It is hardly second-guessing him to suggest, after 118 tests and at the age of 33, the end is not far away.

the net effect is england’s No 3 appears in a kind of limbo. should he play the role of elder statesman, relegating his own style to the needs of the team? or can he afford to be the Ashes eye candy of 2013, when his late cut lit up a summer?

As he moved from 24 at lunch to 40 at tea, the debate seemed to answer itself. He has been taking his responsibilities seriously. Frivolities are out. Forward defensives, very much in.

By the time he fell in the second over of the final session for 40 from 158 balls, he had faced 495 in the series, scoring 158. eleven have been hit for four, and one — an early blow here off the left-arm spin of Zulfiqar Babar — for six. He has rarely batted so painstakingly in his life.

It was difficult to be too harsh. Bell did well to shepherd england to lunch after the early loss of moeen Ali, and resembled the last bastion once Cook and Joe Root fell within five overs of each other after the break. Another quick wicket and england could have subsided as quickly as they did on the third morning in Dubai.

‘It wasn’t the best knock of my life, but I feel I’ve contributed to scrapping out a tough day,’ said Bell. ‘I only made 16 runs in that session, but for me it was about recognising a key period in the game, when they were reverse-swinging it. I’m starting to feel like my rhythm’s coming back. You’re not going to score at five an over on pitches like that.’

even so, the inertia put the onus on James taylor, playing his first test for more than three years, and Bell’s failure to look for quick singles limited england to 48 runs in the afternoon session.

After Bell was stumped for only the second time in his test career, Jonny Bairstow and taylor produced the best running between the wickets of england’s tour.

Bell says he retains the hunger, but days such as these can test even the most dedicated.