The Ashes 5th Test. The Oval. August 20-24.

[backfootpunch]

This anti Bell stuff has been going on since 2005 and yet a succession of England coaches and Captains have wanted him in their team. I'll take their opinions ahead of any prejudiced poster on a cricket site.

I have always been a staunch bell supporter but he has been poor for some time now and you have to acknowledge that as it is a fact

If you don't then you are the prejudiced poster in a cricket site

[backfootpunch]

The problem we have is that going into two of the toughest tours in world cricket we really need Ian bell in form as other than cook nobody else has any real experience

Let's hope he finds form in the place where he had the worst series of his career

[sussexpob]

This anti Bell stuff has been going on since 2005 and yet a succession of England coaches and Captains have wanted him in their team. I'll take their opinions ahead of any prejudiced poster on a cricket site.

I supported Bell in 2013 and 2014 when others were calling for him to be dropped, and look back at the test threads this year, I was arguing that I wouldn't have dropped him before the end of the series to see if he could get form. ODI's are different, I have consistently slagged him off and wanted him dropped; in tests, I have very few times questioned his role in the team.

The problem is not on the "anti-Bell side". In fact, getting any admission from his fans that he is anything but an infallible genius the likes of the world has never seen before is verging on impossible. The argument therefore becomes unnecessary polarised to either side.

I don't think its unreasonable to say he was an average test player, good enough to survive long times in the team, but not a player to dwell on much after he finishes save for a few of his better memories.

[sussexpob]

Nor the view of experts in that field. Don't let facts get in the way of a good story is the mantra of the modern journalist.

Im confused.....

You are slagging off journalists, but they are experts in their field. They are more knowledgeable and better qualified then you to pass comment.....

the irony....

[Dr Cricket]

Yep you pretty much summed it up Sussex.
People are also only having a go or attacking him because they expect far more from him and what he done in his career is not good enough.
People are entitled to their opinions and but seriously Hope if you can't see why people are complaining when one batsman is averaging high 30 for majority of his career you probably need to take your Warwickshire coat off.

[backfootpunch]

It's frustrating for us Warwickshire fans as bell bats like Bradman in County cricket then always finds a way to get out when playing For England

[rich1uk]

It's frustrating for us Warwickshire fans as bell bats like Bradman in County cricket then always finds a way to get out when playing For England

frustrating for England fans as well

as much as hope wants to try and make out its some sort of personal vendetta against bell I actually like the guy , always liked watching him play , I just think he hasn't fulfilled anything close to his potential and am maybe overly critical of him as I think he is capable of so much better. I don't want bell dropped because I think he is not good enough, I know he is good enough, I want bell dropped because he isn't contributing and we cant just keep carrying someone averaging under 30 over his last 23-24 tests

the confusing thing is that when most players go through a form slump you can usually pin it on some technical flaw that has crept in and know if that gets resolved they can get back to scoring runs , with bell that never seems to be the case , he never really looks out of form so its a lot harder to to see what he has to do to change things

as you say every time he goes back to play for warks he excels so even saying playing more county cricket will help doesn't seem to be the answer

[westoelad]

Nor the view of experts in that field. Don't let facts get in the way of a good story is the mantra of the modern journalist.

Im confused.....

You are slagging off journalists, but they are experts in their field. They are more knowledgeable and better qualified then you to pass comment.....

the irony....

I'm not slagging off s journalists but obviously not all of them are experts in their field. Warne is an expert in his field,as are most of the Sky commentary team.

[rich1uk]

Nor the view of experts in that field. Don't let facts get in the way of a good story is the mantra of the modern journalist.

Im confused.....

You are slagging off journalists, but they are experts in their field. They are more knowledgeable and better qualified then you to pass comment.....

the irony....

I'm not slagging off s journalists but obviously not all of them are experts in their field. Warne is an expert in his field,as are most of the Sky commentary team.

warne is well known for having favourites tho , and defending his favourites almost regardless of performance

if it was up to him Watson would be the first name on the team sheet for Australia

[Gingerfinch]

That's the problem with having people like Strauss defending Bell. Old mates and all that. Ask Boycott what he thinks. He will give an HONEST opinion, and has 8000 test runs to back his opinion up!!

[hopeforthebest]

I think Bell plays well for Warks because it's a functional unit whereas since 2012 England has been in a state of flux and and dysfunctional at times. I've been critical of Bell as much as anyone when he's deserved it and he is exasperating very much as Gower was exasperating at times. But this litany of listing his failures and ignoring his successes gets irritating.

[rich1uk]

I think Bell plays well for Warks because it's a functional unit whereas since 2012 England has been in a state of flux and and dysfunctional at times. I've been critical of Bell as much as anyone when he's deserved it and he is exasperating very much as Gower was exasperating at times. But this litany of listing his failures and ignoring his successes gets irritating.

I've listed his overall performance, success and failures, over a 4 year period

I haven't ignored anything

do you think someone averaging 29 for the last 2 years is above criticism ?

[Dr Cricket]

Yep plus he always contradicts him self.
I would never take the guy seriously unless he talks about leg spin and Spinners.
many people in Twitter have said he only good when he actually talks about Spinners, everything else is so bull S*it

From the Sky box I would only take Nasser/Atherton seriously.
Holding doesn't really offer opinions except for Fast bowlers and he usually spot on doesn't really mentions things he doesn't know about which I like.
Botham doesn't know nothing.
plus the overseas comms are usually good except for Warne.

Plus from the ODI set up, Knights is not exactly an ODI expert the guy is clueless about the format.

[westoelad]

Nor the view of experts in that field. Don't let facts get in the way of a good story is the mantra of the modern journalist.

Im confused.....

You are slagging off journalists, but they are experts in their field. They are more knowledgeable and better qualified then you to pass comment.....

the irony....

I'm not slagging off s journalists but obviously not all of them are experts in their field. Warne is an expert in his field,as are most of the Sky commentary team.

warne is well known for having favourites tho , and defending his favourites almost regardless of performance

if it was up to him Watson would be the first name on the team sheet for Australia

He has trenchant views,no doubt,but it's no bad thing perhaps to have one on the Sky team playing the devil's advocate role. He's perceptive,though, and undoubtedly the expert on leg spin.

[rich1uk]

not really sure he does play the devil's advocate role

he just has his own bias about certain players same as anyone else