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

• August 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. After an ordinary display in India in early 2006, he scores three centuries in the home series against Pakistan.
    
• 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. He then follows up a century in the first Test against West Indies at Lord's with a 97 in the third Test at Old Trafford.
    
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• August 2007
  The elusive ODI century
  • Bell scores his first ODI century against India but manages only one century in 22 Test innings between July 2007 and March 2008
    
• 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.
    
• 2011
  Purple patch
  • Easily Bell's best year in Test cricket, which fetches him 950 runs in eight Tests. It starts with 115 against Australia in Sydney, and ends with 235 against India at The Oval. In between, there are also three more hundreds as he averages 118.75 in 11 innings.
    
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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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