Time for Bell to step up

After Ian Bell was restored to the No. 3 spot, Stephen Brenkley writes in the Independent that Bell's progress hasn't been as smooth as it was expected to be. Is an abundance of talent not enough to succeed at the top level?

He has become maddening to supporters of his obvious talent and makes it too easy for those who question his character to succeed. Sometimes he has tried too hard to be hard when he should just be himself.

As a batsman, Bell was not meant to be one of life's nightclub bouncers but one of its computer nerds and he has never seemed quite able to come to terms with it. Hence the confused approach.

In the Times, Michael Atherton looks at Ravi Bopara's decline, starting the Ashes looking to be the first batsman to make four consecutive Test centuries and ending it out of the squad. He wonders whether the selection of the untested Jonathan Trott for a high-pressure Ashes decider hints at bad planning.