Bell toils for those turning to jelly
"There will be very few, if any, changes to the [England] side at the Oval," says Vic Marks in The Observer
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
"There will be very few, if any, changes to the [England] side at the Oval," says Vic Marks in The Observer. "My inclination would be to replace [Ian] Bell with Ravi Bopara. Initially, this conclusion was reached on purely cricketing grounds. In his last six Test innings his highest score is 31; he has dropped the odd half-chance; he no longer bowls or is no longer invited to bowl."
I was going to stress that this had nothing to do with jelly beans. Bell, it is alleged - and we must be careful here because The Observer can scarce afford a damaging court case on this issue - was the man who stationed the offending pair of beans on a good length when Zaheer came to the crease. You cannot drop a man for that. But if he is so bored with Test cricket that he has to resort to such silly japes to keep his spirits up....
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo