Once described by Dayle Hadlee as the best 16-year old he had ever seen, Ian Bell had been earmarked for greatness long before he was drafted onto the England tour of New Zealand in 2001-02, as cover for the injured Mark Butcher.

Technically sound, Bell is a top-order batsman very much in the mould of Michael Atherton, who was burdened with similar expectations when he made his England debut a generation ago. Unlike Atherton, who invariably produced his best when his back was firmly against the wall, Bell's most fluent early efforts tended to come about in a pressure vacuum, a trait that belied an average hovering around the 40 mark, and a record of a century every five or so Tests.

However, on the tour of South Africa in 2009-10, Bell set about changing those perceptions. A perfectly paced century while batting at No. 6 in Durban set England up for an innings victory that ranked, at the time, among their finest overseas performances for a generation, but he surpassed that effort in the very next Test in Cape Town, with a backs-to-the-wall 78 that saved the match and ensured a share of the series. On the subsequent tour of Australia, he continued to save his best for when the chips were down, particularly during England's first-innings struggles at Brisbane and Perth. He finished the tour on a high with his maiden Ashes hundred at Sydney, and a reputation transformed.

When in form, Bell has always been adept at leaving the ball outside off stump, and he received glowing reviews from coaches at every stage of his development, not least from Rod Marsh at the England Academy, a man not given to hyperbole. A former England U19 captain, Bell had played just 13 first-class games when called into the England squad, though in 2001 he scored 836 runs for Warwickshire at an average of over 64, including three centuries.

He didn't immediately translate that success and talent into runs at the international stage - he was found out by Australia's champions, McGrath and Warne, he mustered just 171 runs in ten innings - but he gradually found his feet and his form at the top level. In 2010 and 2011, he averaged more than 65 in five successive series, including the 2010-11 Ashes. But obviously that run wasn't going to last forever: he was brought back to earth by Pakistan's offspinner Saaed Ajmal in the three-Test series in 2012, managing only 51 runs in six innings.
Andrew Miller and ESPNcricinfo staff

• June 4, 2005
  The maiden Test century
  • The opposition is admittedly weak, but Ian Bell needs only three innings to notch up his first Test century. After scoring 70 and 65 not out in his first two innings, he scores an unbeaten 162 against Bangladesh in Chester-le-Street.
    
• July-September 2005
  Ashes horrors
  • After a terrific start to his Test career, Bell is quickly brought down to earth in the 2005 Ashes by Glenn Mcgrath and Shane Warne. Bell scores two half-centuries at Old Trafford but only manages 171 runs in ten innings in the series.
    
• November 2005
  Redemption in Pakistan
  • Bell is England's highest run-getter with 313 runs at an average of 52.16 in the series defeat in Pakistan. In Faisalabad he scores 115, his second Test century.
    
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• July-August 2006
  Three tons in a series
  • The four-Test series home series against Pakistan is a splendid one for him too. He scores three hundreds - 100 not out at Lord's (thus getting his name up on the honours board there), 106 not out at Old Trafford, and 119 at Headingley.
    
• November 2006 - January 2007
  Improved Ashes display
  • Bell scores 331 runs in ten innings with four half-centuries even as England are drubbed 5-0.
    
• May 18, 2007
  On the Lord's honours board again
  • For the second successive year, Bell notches up a Test century at Lord's, this time scoring an unbeaten 109 against West Indies.
    
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• August 21, 2007
  The elusive ODI century
  • In his 46th ODI innings, Bell finally scores his maiden century, an unbeaten 126 against India at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. It's enough to win England the match by 104 runs.
    
• July 11, 2008
  Lord's ecstasy and agony
  • For the third successive year Bell gets a Test hundred at Lord's - this time against South Africa - but this one's tinged with some regret, as he is dismissed by Paul Harris for 199.
    
• December 2009 - January 2010
  Tough runs in South Africa
  • Bell answers the critics who claim he can't score in difficult conditions, with two sublime innings in South Africa. In the second Test in Durban, his 140 sets up an innings win, and in the next Test, in Cape Town, he bats almost five hours for his 78 as England squeeze a draw after being nine down.
    
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• January 5, 2011
  Splendid in Sydney
  • Bell caps off a superb Ashes series with 115 in Sydney as England trounce Australia by an innings and 83 runs and wrap the series 3-1.
    
• May-June 2011
  Four innings, average 331
  • Bell racks up scores of 103 not out, 52, 57 not out, and 119 not out for a series aggregate and average of 331 at home against Sri Lanka.
    
• July-August 2011
  India at his mercy
  • Bell continues his merry run-fest, scoring two hundreds in the four-Test series against India. In the last Test at The Oval, he scores 235, his highest Test score. That's also his last Test innings of 2011, a year in which he scores 950 runs in eight Tests at an average of 118.75.
    
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• January-February 2012
  Hard landing
  • After an unbelievable year in Test cricket in 2011, Bell gets a harsh reminder that Test cricket isn't all that easy: in six innings against Pakistan, he manages a grand total of 51, and is completely at sea against Saeed Ajmal's doosra.
    
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