Bell strikes the right note to punish Glamorgan once again

WHILE England’s batsmen were floundering at The Ageas Bowl, the batsman who many would have selected for the fourth Test, was scoring his third championship century of the season.

Ian Bell hit a double hundred against Glamorgan for Warwickshire, exceeding 20,000 first-class runs, and guiding his team to a commanding position at the end of the second day at Colwyn Bay.

Bell came to the crease in the 11th over, and when he was out 109 overs later for 204, his aggregate against Glamorgan this season stood at 425 having scored 106 and 115 – both not out – in the earlier game at Edgbaston .

He has been at the crease against the Welsh county this season for 18 hours, faced 743 balls having struck 53 fours and two sixes.

Unlike his centuries in Birmingham, the former England batsman did give two chances – one straightforward, the other more difficult – but his batting overall was again a splendid exhibition of classy strokeplay, punctuated by those glorious trademark strokes through the offside.

There was generous applause when he guided the ball to third man to reach his century, then more acknowledgment four runs later when he reached his personal milestone, and when he was eventually dismissed five overs before the close, Bell was given a standing ovation and handshakes from the Glamorgan players.

When play resumed in the morning, nightwatchman Chris Wright gave his senior partner useful support by putting on 56 before Wright miscued against Meschede and saw his leg stump knocked back.

Sam Hain then joined Bell, to play an attractive innings of 61, only his second championship fifty of the summer – and share a partnership of 121 for the fifth wicket.

The stand was broken when Carlson held onto a fierce drive from Hain at extra cover to give Rory Smith his second wicket.

Warwickshire were building partnerships for every wicket, and the stand for the sixth wicket produced another 62 runs, with Tim Ambrose scoring 22 before he was leg before to David Lloyd.

Bad light then caused a seven-over delay, with Warwickshire needing a further 54 runs in eight overs to gain maximum batting points.

With plenty of time left in the game, they opted to consolidate and build up a sizeable lead and with Keith Barker providing more support there followed another fifty plus partnership stand – the fifth of the innings. Glamorgan’s depleted attack did take an eighth wicket, but by then Warwickshire were 445 for 8 – a lead of 242.