Ian Ronald Bell was born on 11 April 1982 and is an English former cricketer who played international cricket in all formats for the England cricket team and county cricket for Warwickshire County Cricket Club.
109 Facts About Ian Bell
2.
Ian Bell was noted for his sharp reflexes and often fielded in close catching positions.
3.
Ian Bell scored twenty-two Test centuries and four One Day International 100s.
4.
In July 2012, Ian Bell signed a new three-year contract with Warwickshire extending his stay at the club at least till 2015.
5.
In November 2015, England selectors announced that Ian Bell would be dropped from the English side ahead of the test series with South Africa.
6.
In September 2020, Ian Bell announced his retirement, revealing that his final game for Warwickshire would be a T20 match against Glamorgan.
7.
Ian Bell's family hailed from Dunchurch, near Rugby and he played for the local cricket club as a junior.
8.
Ian Bell was educated at Princethorpe College, a Roman Catholic independent school in the nearby village of Princethorpe and made the 1st XI in year 7.
9.
Ian Bell attended Coventry City's football school of excellence, despite being a supporter of Aston Villa, and played for Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club.
10.
Ian Bell's brother Keith, born two years later, has played amateur cricket for Staffordshire, and has played seven games for the Warwickshire Second XI.
11.
Ian Bell made three appearances for Warwickshire's second team in 1998, his next matches at senior level were with the England Under-19 cricket team on their tour of New Zealand that winter.
12.
Ian Bell made 91 in the first innings of the first Test, and 115 in the first innings of the third; Dayle Hadlee called Bell "the best 16-year-old I've ever seen", and he was often compared with former England captain Mike Atherton.
13.
Ian Bell broke into the Warwickshire first-team in 2001 as he scored 836 runs in 16 innings including three centuries and two scores of 98.
14.
Ian Bell became the county's youngest capped player ever when Warwickshire awarded him a county cap on the final day of the season.
15.
Ian Bell made his international debut in the final match of the Test series against the West Indies at The Oval.
16.
Ian Bell hit 70, batting at number five in England's first innings; he was not required to bat again as England forced the West Indies to follow on and won the game by ten wickets.
17.
Ian Bell was selected as part of the squad to tour Zimbabwe and South Africa and he made his One Day International debut alongside Kevin Pietersen against Zimbabwe at Harare.
18.
Ian Bell opened the innings and hit 75, which earned him his first ODI man-of-the-match award.
19.
Ian Bell played all four matches of the series averaging 40.75.
20.
In 2005, Ian Bell enjoyed a superb start to the season, scoring 480 first-class runs in April alone to break Graeme Hick's 17-year-old record.
21.
Ian Bell was recalled to the England team for the two-Test series against Bangladesh, however England's innings victories in both Tests allowed him only two innings.
22.
Ian Bell failed in the first two matches, at Lord's and Edgbaston, but in the third Test at Old Trafford he overcame early struggles against Shane Warne to post a half-century in each innings.
23.
Ian Bell was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 New Year Honours.
24.
Ian Bell took it, scoring a century and two half-centuries in the three-match series, and becoming England's top scorer in the series with 313 runs at an average of 52.16.
25.
Ian Bell took his only Test wicket with his part-time bowling when he caught and bowled Mohammad Yousuf.
26.
Ian Bell was named in the squad of 13 for the first home Test of the summer, against Sri Lanka, but with the return of Marcus Trescothick, coupled with the good form of Paul Collingwood and the emergence of Alastair Cook, Bell was dropped from the starting 11.
27.
Ian Bell was selected in the squad for the 5 match ODI series against Sri Lanka, and was one of only a couple of players to come through the series with any credit.
28.
Ian Bell scored a century in each of the first three Tests, becoming the first Englishman since Graham Gooch to score a century in three successive Test matches, but missed his chance to make it four in a row after scoring only 9 in the first innings and being 9 not out when the fourth Test unexpectedly finished a day early after the Pakistan ball tampering row.
29.
Ian Bell finished the series with an average of 93.75, but surprisingly was not awarded the man-of-the-series award for England, with the honour going to Andrew Strauss who averaged 63.42.
30.
Ian Bell played in the ODI series against Pakistan, achieving his two highest scores at the time: 88 at Sophia Gardens and 86* at Trent Bridge, the latter earning him the man-of-the-match award following England's victory.
31.
In September 2006 Ian Bell was named in the squad for the Champions Trophy in India and in the squad to tour Australia to attempt to retain the Ashes.
32.
However, because Marcus Trescothick returned to England prior to the first Test, Ian Bell, Cook and Collingwood played in the team throughout the series.
33.
However, England squeaked through into the final of the Commonwealth Bank Series, and dispatched Australia in the finals in two straight games, with Ian Bell scoring 65 in the first of them.
34.
Ian Bell was selected as part of England's 15-man squad for the world cup in the West Indies.
35.
England had a largely disappointing tournament and Ian Bell's performances were typical of the team as a whole.
36.
Ian Bell suffered an average run of form in these matches, scoring 5,28,16 and 31.
37.
The change in position initially worked well as Ian Bell scored 77 as England lost to Australia, but in the next two games, against Bangladesh and South Africa, he only managed scores of 0 and 7, and was dropped for England's final match against the West Indies, a game which England won.
38.
Ian Bell scored the fourth of England's hundreds against the West Indies in the first Test at Lord's in May Along with Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior, they became the first four batsmen for England since 1938 to each score a century in the same Test match.
39.
Ian Bell's innings came at number 6 in the batting order and after England declared he had the impressive record at that position of 484 runs at 121.00.
40.
On 21 August 2007, Ian Bell scored his maiden ODI century in the first of seven one-day matches against India, scoring 126 runs off 118 balls.
41.
However, Ian Bell struggled with the bat in the subsequent 5-game ODI series, scoring just 70 runs at an average of 14.00.
42.
Ian Bell recovered form in the first Test match, scoring 83 and 74, in vain, as England fell to an 88-run defeat.
43.
Ian Bell initially struggled for form as England opened its five-game ODI series against New Zealand with two heavy defeats, scoring just 5 and 0.
44.
However, under pressure for his place in the side, Ian Bell top-scored in England's win in Auckland in the third game of the series with 73 runs, and then made 43 runs from 41 balls as England tied the fourth match, in Napier.
45.
Ian Bell went on to score 25 in England's first innings and top scored in the second innings with an unbeaten 54 as England crumbled to 110 all out and lost the match by 189 runs, the next highest score in the innings being 13 by Alastair Cook.
46.
Ian Bell finished the series with a batting average of 50.00, and became the second youngest England player to reach 2,500 runs.
47.
Ian Bell struggled in the home Test series scoring only 45 runs in four innings, with a high score of 21*.
48.
Ian Bell hit some form in the Twenty20 match that followed, top scoring with his highest score in that format, 60*, as England won by nine wickets.
49.
Ian Bell then adopted the opening position for the following ODI series, however his form was intermittent with scores of 46,0,20, and 46.
50.
Ian Bell started off this series against South Africa by hitting 199 before being dismissed by Paul Harris, one short of his maiden double century, thus becoming the first Englishman to be dismissed on 199.
51.
Ian Bell made 73 in the first match as England won by 126 runs.
52.
Ian Bell was less impressive in the fourth match at Lord's, making just 13.
53.
Ian Bell made 25 in the first ODI against India, but was out for one in the second as England lost by 54 runs.
54.
Ian Bell struggled in the first Test against India, making scores of 17 and seven as England lost the first Test match by 6 wickets.
55.
The second Test finished in a draw, although Ian Bell again failed to make a substantial score, being dismissed for just one in the first innings before finishing the second innings on 24 not out.
56.
Ian Bell suffered similarly in India and the West Indies, and following England's dismissal for 51 in the First Test, in which Bell made just four runs, he was dropped in favour of Owais Shah.
57.
Ian Bell reacted well to being dropped and began to consistently score runs in the county championship that led to him being named in the 16-man training party for the tests against Australia and captain of the England Lions for their game against Australia, though he failed in that match, scoring 0 and 20, and remained on the sidelines for the first two Tests of the series.
58.
Ian Bell was selected to play in the third Test at Edgbaston, his home ground, replacing the injured Kevin Pietersen.
59.
Nonetheless, Ian Bell made 126 against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge the next week.
60.
Ian Bell was then selected to play in the final Test at The Oval, and scored 72 to lay a foundation for England's 172-run first-innings lead.
61.
Ian Bell was dismissed by Mitchell Johnson four times in his five innings in the series, and had scored 140 runs at an average of only 28, though with two half centuries.
62.
The final two tests were modest for Ian Bell, who scored 166 runs in 4 innings at an average of 41.50.
63.
Ian Bell featured in the home Test series with Bangladesh at the start of the season, scoring a century in the second Test.
64.
Ian Bell did return to action for his county Warwickshire towards the end of the season, scoring a match-winning century as acting captain in the CB40 final against Somerset.
65.
Ian Bell started off the series well, and progressed throughout the series with many elegant drives, cuts and pulls.
66.
TV replays and Hawk-Eye showed that Ian Bell was indeed plumb.
67.
Ian Bell went on to make 69 runs and almost helped England win comfortably.
68.
Ian Bell was involved in a controversial run out during the series.
69.
Ian Bell scored his first double ton in the series, a test best of 235.
70.
Ian Bell made 52 in the first innings against Sri Lanka but England went on to lose the game by 75 runs, their fourth straight Test defeat.
71.
Ian Bell made 18 in the first innings and was not required to bat again.
72.
Ian Bell returned to form in his favoured English conditions, hitting scores of 61 and 63 not out.
73.
Ian Bell would be the opening partner of Cook in the ODI series.
74.
Ian Bell scored his second one-day hundred as England won the first match of the series.
75.
Ian Bell's innings was nominated to be one of the best ODI batting performances of the year by ESPNCricinfo.
76.
Ian Bell continued his good form in the next match, hitting 53 as England won by eight wickets.
77.
Ian Bell started off rather ordinarily in this tour, as he struggled against the Indian spinners on slow spinning and dry pitches.
78.
Ian Bell became the 4th Englishman to achieve this feat.
79.
Ian Bell scored quickly showing a range of shots as they were building a large lead over Australia.
80.
Ian Bell was awarded the man of the series award at the end of the series.
81.
Ian Bell was named in the Test XI by Cricinfo for 2013.
82.
Ian Bell made scores of 5 and 32 in the first test in Brisbane, but England lost the match.
83.
Ian Bell did not make a half century again in the series as England tour began to fall apart after losing the Ashes.
84.
Senior batsmen such as Ian Bell, Cook and Pietersen were criticised in the English media for their lack of runs, with Ian Bell himself making just two half centuries and failing to score a hundred in the series.
85.
Ian Bell showed good form in the opening two ODIs, making a score of 41 in the first match before being run out for 68 in the second.
86.
Ian Bell played in the drawn three test series in New Zealand in March 2013, scoring an obdurate 75 in the last test at Auckland to help England to secure a draw similar to that at Cardiff against Australia in 2009.
87.
Ian Bell was named in the ODI squad for their series against Sri Lanka.
88.
Ian Bell made 50 in the first match of the series as England won by 81 runs on the DL Method.
89.
Ian Bell made 12 in the following match, before hitting an unbeaten 41 in the third match of the series to help England to a ten wicket victory.
90.
England lost the final two matches of the series, with Ian Bell making scores of seven and 37 in the next too matches.
91.
Ian Bell made 64 in the first innings to help England into a strong position, before making just eight in England's second innings as they collapsed to lose the match.
92.
In that over 21 runs of six balls came with Ian Bell scoring 20 with two sixes and two fours.
93.
Ian Bell went on to score 167, falling to a ball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
94.
Ian Bell made 28 in the next match as England suffered another defeat.
95.
Ian Bell was selected for the tour of Sri Lanka at the back end of 2014.
96.
Ian Bell was out for a duck in the first match against Australia as England lost the opening match.
97.
Ian Bell hit 88 not out in the following match against India to help England win the match.
98.
Ian Bell was unable to make an impact in the final, being dismissed for eight as England again lost to Australia.
99.
Ian Bell was selected in the England squad that toured the West Indies.
100.
Ian Bell made 143 in the first innings of the first Test, but was dismissed for 11 in the second innings after being run out.
101.
Ian Bell had a poor game in the final match of the series after being dismissed for a duck in both innings.
102.
Ian Bell enjoyed a disappointing time in the series against New Zealand.
103.
Ian Bell made just one in the first innings and then followed this up with 29 in the second innings.
104.
Ian Bell made just 1 in the fourth Test as England won by an innings and 78 runs to win the series.
105.
Ian Bell officially declared his retirement from ODI cricket, so he could focus on Test cricket.
106.
Ian Bell made an unbeaten five in the second innings but England were unable to force a victory.
107.
Ian Bell was out for four in the first innings of the second Test, but improved in the second innings, scoring 46.
108.
Ian Bell made 40 in England's first innings of the final Test match, as they took a first innings lead.
109.
On September 6,2020, Ian Bell announced his retirement from all forms of cricket at the end of 2020 Northern summer.