An apology to Mr. I.R. Bell

The text on The Guardian website accompanying this pic said 'You shall not pass'

Ok, so this blog may have been a little, uh, hasty in calling for the dropping of Ian Bell from the England side before Christmas. I don’t know what he was given for Christmas, but clearly it worked some sort of miracle as he has followed up the First Test debacle with two matches where his performances have been outstanding.

I was going to write an apology immediately after the 2nd Test and his extremely well made 140. But, but, something held me back. While it was a great innings the platform was already set for him. Ali Cook had already scored a century (I believe the stat trotted out by Sky at the time was that Bell has only scored Test centuries in innings where someone else has also scored a ton) and the score was well poised at 297-4 for him to go on and score runs with the pressure off and on a flat pitch. While his score contributed a lot to England’s emphatic win, you get the feeling that it was just a bit too easy.

However, the 78 off 218 balls that he scored yesterday in a partnership of epic proportions with Paul Collingwood (yet again the hero with an extended bout of billy blocking) was undoubtedly magnificent. It showed grit, determination and character in the face of adversity, combined with some elegant strokeplay and an unwillingness to succumb to the pressures that the Saffers were exerting. The only downside was that he couldn’t stick it through to the end and score a much deserved century. In addition, he made an excellent 48 in exacting conditions in the 1st innings. In the Third Test Ian Bell was called upon and stepped up to the mark.

So once again apologies to Ian Bell for hastily shouting off-with-his-head. Your performances over the last 2 games have earned you a well deserved reprieve. I really do hope this is the spur for you to go on and fulfil your huge potential as a top batsmen.

Before I finish my grovelling, can I just say let’s drop Kevin Pietersen ASAP. He’s done nothing this tour and is clearly rubbish.

Here’s hoping that has the same effect on KP as it did on Ian Bell.