Today's innings by Ian Bell pretty much summed him up. England were playing for a draw and he was quite happy cutting and pulling as though they needed 6 an over. Wrong shot selection given the situation, but he played them all brilliantly, showing what talent he has. Then he decided that it was a good idea to pre-determine a sweep against Kumble with 5 overs to go, despite the fact that runs were irrelevant and England had four number 11s to come. Wrong shot selection yet again, and this time he didn't get away with it.For me, that sums up why he should be dropped for the Sri Lanka tour. He has the talent but can't seem to play to the situation (unless that situation is him coming in at 300+ for 4). That said, he would doubtless feel harshly treated as he averages well over 40, and his team mate, Strauss, has had a worse run than he has and has got out to equally poor shots. But unfortunately for Bell, Strauss opens and Vaughan may be reluctant to return to opening. Bell should be left at home this winter and I genuinely reckon he could come back to Test cricket, if he has the desire to work on his shot selection, as a better player - a la Damien Martyn.
Bell is far from the only one who gets out due to playing shots unsuited to the circumstances: Vaughan yesterday, Pietersen regularly, Strauss in the first innings. I put it down to limited powers of concentration over a five-day test, probably due to the amount of shorter forms of cricket now played. Compare today's cricketers with those of yesteryear like Boycott, Barrington, Bailey etc who hardly ever gave their wickets away unnecessarily.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that but I think Bell seems to have knack for it, although Strauss isn't far behind.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see if either of them make it on the Sri Lanka tour....