Bill Bell

New Zealand

Full name William Bell

Born September 5, 1931, Dunedin, Otago

Died July 23, 2002, Auckland (aged 70 years 321 days)

Major teams New Zealand, Auckland, Canterbury

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Legbreak

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	6s	Ct	St
Tests	2	3	3	21	21*	-	0	0	0	1	0
First-class	21	33	16	170	22	10.00	0	0		15	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	2	4	491	235	2	1/54	2/136	117.50	2.87	245.5	0	0	0
First-class	21		3451	1783	44	4/31		40.52	3.09	78.4		0	0

Career statistics

Test debut	South Africa v New Zealand at Cape Town, Jan 1-5, 1954 scorecard
Last Test	South Africa v New Zealand at Port Elizabeth, Feb 5-9, 1954 scorecard
Test statistics
First-class span	1949-1959

Profile

Wisden Obituary
Bell, William, who died in Auckland on July 23, 2002, aged 70, played two Tests for New Zealand in South Africa in 1953-54. He bowled leg-spin and came into the reckoning for that tour because Alex Moir was out of favour with the selectors. "Players like Bell," wrote the former Auckland leg-spinner Raoul Garrard, "have apparently been chosen only because we must have bowlers of their type." At the time Bill Bell had taken only 11 wickets in his five games for Canterbury and Auckland. When he took four for 31 against Eastern Province early in the tour, he looked worth the punt. His control was good and both his leg-break and googly turned sharply. That return, however, would be his best in a 33-game career that ran from 1949-50 to 1958-59, with 44 wickets at 40.52 and 170 runs at an average (helped by not-outs) of 10.00. His Tests were at Cape Town and Port Elizabeth; his two wickets cost 235 runs.