Captaincy lifts Bell to confident performance

When Matthew Bell accepted the Wellington captaincy this season in a caretaking, then in a fulltime capacity there were concerns, widely voiced, that the supplementary responsibility would damage his personal form.

There were those who wondered how the talented but occasionally uncertain opener, who enjoys only moderate seniority in a Wellington team which includes Jason Wells and Roger Twose, would manage to juggle his own and the team's best interests.

The doubts were not over Bell's ability as a batsman nor his specialist role as an opener. They were those common and intrusive concerns that surround a player's ascension to the captaincy, that his individual wellbeing may suffer under the weight of his greater duty to the team.

Bell had little to say on the issue in any public forum. He purveyed the usual diplomatic niceties, expressing his humble pleasure at being shown such an honour and announcing his hope to do justice to the office.

But he must, at least in private moments, have discovered an internal certainty that he would acquit himself in his new and conflicting roles.

Bell has always been something of a nervous player, prone to fret over his form, inclined to brood over the innings he is about to play. It might have been that the extra burden of the captaincy exacerbated those negtive qualities to his cost.

But Bell showed today during a staunch and watchful innings of 134 for Wellington against Canterbury on the first day of their Shell Trophy match at the Basin Reserve that his own inner certainty at his ability to cope was well-placed.

If anything, the captaincy may have been uplifting to Bell rather than burdensome. His tendancy to brood on his own form might have been overcome or at least supressed by his responsibility to manage the wider concerns of the team.

Certainly, he seemed confident, focused and assured throughout his innings today which occupied 17 minutes fewer than six hours and 284 balls and included 18 fours. Bell batted sensibly, perserverantly through three sessions as Wellington's innings built itself into a monument to the folly of the decision of Canterbury captain Gary Stead to ask them to bat after winning the toss.

At stumps, Wellington was 314-4 and it could hardly be imagined by the casual observer that Stead had extended such an invitation. In addition to Bell's principal hand, Richard Jones had made 67 from 92 balls in his first innings for Wellington, Jason Wells had added 65 in a 166-run second-wicket stand and Roger Twose was alive, 27 not out, at stumps.

Bell is a technician but not necessarily a stylist. His innings, even one as lenghty as today's, don't leave a legacy of memorable shots. He gave particular preference to a cut shot achieved by leaning heavily on the back foot and steering the ball rather than striking it backward of point and to a crisp, functional pull shot reserved for anything short and of more than waste height.

He talked later about the t win necessities of being positive, of keeping the runs coming, and of "grinding it out" when Canterbury tightened their bowling and made scoring difficult.

"It was nice to get some runs first up," Bell said, "particularly having just taken over the captaincy. As I've said, I want to lead fron the front and it was pleasing and satisfying to achieve that."

Bell has set himself targets this season which he calls small but which most would call demanding, the most important of which is to score six centuries, three in each of the Trophy and Cup competitions. He welcomed his early progress towards that aim and towards an additional goal of 1000 Trophy runs.

"I felt I just got better and better today and that's what I'm aiming for," Bell said. "I had a bit of Lady Luck on my shoulder and when that happens you have to try to take advantage of it. I felt I did so and I'm pretty pleased."

Bell spoke with obvious enthusiasm for his growing, immensely promising and new opening partnership with Jones who finds himself transplanted this season from Auckland to a new first-class base in Wellington.

While Bell tends to be a dogged batsman, stalwart and hard-working, Jones is something of a dasher. His fluency nicely complements Bell's obstinacy and their recent stands have produced 74 in 66 minutes against New South Wales and 102 in 110 minutes today. Jonees' tendancy to keep the runs flowing - he hit nine boundaries today and raced to his half century from 54 balls - helps lift pressure from Bell who sometimes becomes stuck early in his innings.

Wellington's scoring rate seemed to drop in a consolidating partnership of 166 for the second wicket with Wells who batted three and a half hours for 65. But Bell said he had aimed with Wells to be as positive as circumstances allowed and to frustrate the Canterbury attack when it had tried to reassert itself in the afternoon.

They carried Wellington past 150 in the 46th over and 200 in the 57th and through the first 10 overs with the second new ball till Wells was out when Wellington was 268. Bell was then 122 and the partnership had produced its runs in 212 minutes.

Bell was out at 280 in the last hour of the final session after carrying his bat almost through the day and James Franklin was alson winkled out before the close when Twose on 27 and Chris Nevin, on 2, were at the crease.

The young leg-spinner Aaron Redmond, who bowled most of his overs into a northerly which gusted up to 70kmh, was among the best of Canterbury's bowlers. He saw Bell, on 54, dropped from his fifth ball of the day and later had the indignity of seeing the same player reach his century from his bowling. But he finished with 0-40 from 17 overs and with plaudits from his captain for a fine display.