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Bell Keen To Cement Number Three Spot
Bell - Growing Up.
Ian Bell has pinpointed the number three position in England's Test plans as they build towards next year's Ashes.
Warwickshire batsman Bell has been the yo-yo among England's top order over the past four years but hopes his latest shift is a more permanent one.
Although he failed to deliver a telling score in the victory over South Africa at the Brit Oval, having replaced former captain Michael Vaughan at first wicket down, Bell views the promotion as a pivotal moment.
Speaking at the launch of npower's third urban cricket facility in Highgate Park, Birmingham, Bell said: "It is now a time in my career where I should not see myself, or allow other people to see me, as a young player any more.
"A lot of the players when I first walked into the dressing room are no longer around and I have 43 Test caps, so it is time to step up and deliver.
"It looks like I might get an opportunity now at number three and it is up to me to take that opportunity.
"Certainly I have been up and down the order throughout my Test match career but more recently I have settled at five.
"That is where I have put in my best performances but as a player you always want to test yourself and be as good as you possibly can be.
"You look at the best players in the world and a lot of them bat at number three or number four.
"People might say that batting at number five is easier than three but you want to test yourself as much as you can and batting at number three you do that.
"You could be in after the first ball or three hours later.
"That challenges your skills as a batsman and that is what I want to face up to."
So far Bell averages just 34 in his 13 matches in the position, casting some doubt as to his long-term prospects there.
He looked England's best batsman in the away series against Sri Lanka but an inability to turn authoritative starts into big scores let him down.
"I know I can do it, I have done it a little bit in the Ashes, but I have to start converting those 50s into hundreds like I did at Lord's against South Africa," he said.
"If I can do it more consistently I will know I am going in the right direction, and hopefully the best years of my batting are still ahead of me.
"Being 26 now I have got experience behind me and I know a bit more about Test cricket."
Like Bell, England have been up and down in the past couple of years, and with only a maximum of nine Tests until next summer's showdown with Australia, there is little time to gel in new captain Kevin Pietersen's bid to win back the urn.
But Bell said: "Anyone that looks into the dressing room and sees the talent inside it would believe it is possible we can win the Ashes. There is a lot of ability.
"Like KP said, if we play like we did at The Oval, and at times this summer, we can do it.
"The important thing in the lead-up to 2005 was that we were winning Test matches regularly, it became a habit, and we played consistent cricket.
"We desperately need that consistency back in our game.
"As we showed against South Africa, we scored 600 in the first Test and then 200 in the next.
"When you play the best team in the world you cannot afford that kind of inconsistency in your game."
Things could not have started any better for the new regime, however, following Pietersen's man-of-the-match debut as Test leader.
"It will not be until the winter when see him develop a bit more but I guess the thing I saw from Kev this week - I know he is a big admirer of Michael (Vaughan) and the way he captained the side - was that his captaincy style is going to be very similar to the way he plays cricket," said Bell. "On gut instinct and aggressive.
"Like his batting he will trust himself to make the right call at the right time."
