الصفحات

Brilliant Bell makes a mockery of IPL snub as England star runs riot in Canberra

احدث اجدد واروع واجمل واشيك Brilliant Bell makes a mockery of IPL snub as England star runs riot in Canberra

Any Indian Premier League franchise owners tuning in to England's one-day opener on TV on Monday must have wondered what they had done.

Dan Christian, sold at $900,000 to Deccan Chargers, went for 66 runs off 6.3 overs while Ian Bell, who could not tempt anyone to buy him at $100,000, was again the master of all he surveyed. Confusing? The IPL auction certainly was.

Power surge: Bell hammers a four in his unbeaten century in Canberra

Power surge: Bell hammers a four in his unbeaten century in Canberra

Christian, a journeyman all-rounder who failed to impress playing for Hampshire last summer, looked ordinary as England cruised to a seven-wicket win over the Australian Prime Minister's XI.

Bell, meanwhile, continues to bat as well as anyone in the world and here he transferred his magnificent Test form into the one-day arena.

He stroked his way to a classy unbeaten 124 off 102 balls to make a challenging Duckworth-Lewis target of 223 in 35 overs appear a mere trifle. England cantered home with nine balls to spare.

There certainly seemed to be an anti-England bias in the draft for the Indian Twenty20 competition that cannot be totally explained by potential problems over the players' availability.

In the Wright place: Luke Wright takes an excellent catch in England's win

In the Wright place: Luke Wright takes an excellent catch in England's win

But the IPL's loss will be Andy Flower's gain because in these days of overcrowded international itineraries, it is in England's best interests for their players to go nowhere near the Indian cashfest.

For now Bell has provided an interesting conundrum for England, one Flower would have relished when the Warwickshire man was banished back to county cricket in 2009 and told to get fitter and more powerful.

Bell's response has been exemplary. He is not only a shoo-in for a Test place, but is also making it hard for England to leave him out of any form of the game, starting with Wednesday's firstTwenty20 international against Australian Adelaide.

Scoreboard: England beat President's XI

Bell has not played in a Twenty20 game for England since the infamous Stanford match in 2008, which seems a lifetime away for the health of the England team and the standing of Bell.

Faced with the choice between Bell and Michael Lumb, drafted in to replace Craig Kieswetter at the top of the Twenty20 order, it should be no contest for England.

They gave their Ashes bowlers a rest but, with the exception of captain Andrew Strauss, went into this fixture with the bulk of their first-choice batting line-up.

They were far too good for the Prime Minister's team of Australian talents. Christian was their best batsman with 53 runs, before becoming one of three victims for Ajmal Shahzad in a rain-hit home innings of 254 for nine off 43 overs.

Shahzad's victims came expensively but Mike Yardy ended a promising innings from the Prime Minister's XI with his ugly left-arm spin.

Three cheap wickets underlined his effectiveness and Yardy will be a worthy partner to Graeme Swann. The eye candy, though, was provided by Bell.

'This was an opportunity for me,' said the batsman. 'I want to play Test and limited-overs cricket for England for a long time.

'I had to go away to Warwickshire and change how I played one-day cricket and I try to be more powerful now. Hopefully I can take my game to the next level.'



...

المشاركات الشائعة