Bell walking tall among his peers
The Ashes are looming once again for Ian Bell, but this time he is ready to look his opponents in the eye, as he continues his remarkable resurgence as an international batsman
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It's quite a turnaround from the situation he faced on his last visit to The Oval, the Ashes decider last September, when an overawed Bell recorded a pair to complete a traumatic personal series. "Looking back now," he recalled, "it's something I wouldn't change. Obviously I'd have loved a hundred or some runs personally, but I'd still rather have won the Ashes and got a pair. To be involved at such a young age was something special."
One year on and Bell has got no such worries now. He in in the midst of a golden run of form that has earned him three centuries in as many Tests, and the subtle but unmistakeable change of approach has forced even those who doubted his mental fortitude to reassess their man. Among the doubters, it seems, was Bell himself.
"I've always enjoyed my cricket, but I don't know whether I believed I was good enough at this level," he explained. "Now I believe I am. [In the past] I was a young player in the presence of world-class players and I wasn't looking them in the eye. Now I've worked on my body language, and I've got a bit more presence out there. It's about walking out there with your chest out and believing in yourself."
"I'm feeling more positive and I'm feeling as if I belong," Bell added, as he sized up the prospect of scoring a hundred in four consecutive matches - a feat that has only ever been achieved by ten other batsmen, and only one other Englishman, Ken Barrington (who managed it twice, in 1961-62 and 1967-68).
"In the past my consistency has been lacking," he said. "I've scored some runs and then made some low scores, but this series I've backed that up with real consistency. I'm very pleased with what I've achieved in three Tests, but if I start changing the way I've been preparing and start thinking of another hundred, it's not going to happen. I'll just prepare like I have been all along and not expect it. If it happens, then great."
The turning point of Bell's summer - and maybe even his career - came at Lord's in May, when he was omitted from the starting line-up for the first Test against Sri Lanka. "Being left out and driving away that morning was quite hard," he admitted. "I don't want to be doing that again, but it was a real chance to look at things and work out areas that I could do better. I definitely think that set-back has helped me."
If the experience really has made him stronger ahead of the winter's campaigns, then so much the better for England's prospects. "I just need to keep scoring the runs," he said. "It's a big match for us all, our last before Australia, and so it's an important one personally for everyone. There is competition for places, which is good, but I believe I'm a lot more experienced now. I've had a winter in the subcontinent, and I'll have 18-19 Test matches under my belt [when we get to Australia], instead of three."
As for being back at The Oval, Bell admitted that the memories were still fresh from last September. "That series was something we'll never forget," he said. "It was great to be involved and when you walk into the dressing-room, you do remember. Given the highs we were on that time, if we can finish this series 3-0, that would complete a great 12 months."
Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo
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