Ian Bell retires

IAN Bell, MBE, has officially retired from competitive cricket.

Born on April 11, 1982 in Coventry, Ian was a very capable righthanded high to middle order batsman who, at his peak, was described in The Times as an ‘ exquisite rapier.’ And he was no mean slip fielder to boot.

He played county cricket for Warwickshire from 1999 until September 2020, taking his last stance at the wicket in a T20 encounter against Glamorgan. In between times he also starred for Perth Scorchers ( down under) and for Dhaka Dynamites and Islamabad United in various limited over competitions.

‘ Dinger’ Bell represented England in all formats of the game, scoring twentytwo Test centuries and four One Day International ( ODI) 100s.

In the 2006 New Year Honours

List, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for his role in the successful Ashes campaign of the previous year.

Also in November 2006, he was awarded the Emerging Player of the Year award by the International Cricket Council.

Although during 2008 and 2009, Bell was a more infrequent member of the England teams, he still played a big part in winning the Ashes. Then in 2010, he captained Warwickshire to victory in the CB40 final.

Bell played in 118 Test Matches, scoring 7,727 runs for an average of 42.69

In 161 ODIs, he notched 5,416 runs ( average 37.87) and in all first class matches combined, for clubs and country, he struck 20,440 runs for an average of 43.58. His best score was 235 batting for England against India in a Test Match at The Oval in 2011. And as a very occasional bowler, he managed to claim 47 wickets for an average of 34.36.

Enjoy your retirement Ian… well done.