Bell's Still Standing In Bears' Old Guard

THERE will be some size-able holes in the Warwickshire set-up as they prepare for life back in the First Division.

- Richard Edwards

The departure of Ashley Giles, to the post of the ECB’s Director of Cricket, is a huge blow, particularly as it follows the exit of Jonathan Trott from the county scene after almost two run-strewn decades at Edgbaston.

All of which makes Ian Bell an even more central figure in this part of the Midlands as Warwickshire look to consolidate their position back in cricket’s top flight.

Bell was in typically imperious form as Warwickshire secured promotion from Division Two last season, scoring 1,027 runs at an average of 54, a tally that included five centuries in a summer that most definitely belonged to the bowlers rather than batsmen.

Those runs actually put Bell back in England contention, with an increasing number of voices calling for his recall as a succession of players came and went in England’s top-order.

England’s performances in Sri Lanka before Christmas mean that Joe Root’s side go into the West Indies tour with a far more settled look.