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Arthur Crabtree wrote:His ambivalence over whether he should carry on.

There was no equivocation from Bell, he stated clearly his intention, not once did he talk of retirement. That was added by the media and others.

equivocation. the use of equivocal or ambiguous expressions, especially in order to mislead or hedge; prevarication. an equivocal, ambiguous expression; equivoque:

take stock (of something)
to examine a situation carefully.

hopeforthebest wrote:

Arthur Crabtree wrote:His ambivalence over whether he should carry on.

There was no equivocation from Bell, he stated clearly his intention, not once did he talk of retirement. That was added by the media and others

Not sure you can say he was clear. He talks of being tired and "looking forward to a break", and then clearly with regards to the immediate future says "he will take stock".

Taking stock has a false meaning to it, its correct traditional usage would mean that he was contemplating the issues raised in reference to a decision being made about those issues. As he was discussing the future, and discussing how mentally drained and need of a rest he was, I think that can adequately be (and literally has all over the place been interpreted as) seen as a hint at him considering taking a decision about his future.

If it wasnt in reference to "taking stock" on his future, then what is he referring to thinking about? If he isnt referring to a decision full stop, then he is using a more modern and improper understanding to the terminology, a double meaning against the naturally assumed one.

So that would be Equivocation.

And while I cant see why Bell would say that, in those terms, to be purposefully dishonest, I can see that the England setup have used the misunderstood quote to rally behind him and get him some good PR. I think that is a sensible thing to do for the team if it is true that (a) he isnt considering retirement and (b) the team are not considering getting rid of him. By focusing on Ian Bell as a whole, through 11 years of test cricket, they have people thinking positively. Had the statement not been throw away, and so seemingly honestly given, I would have said its a brilliant exercised PR stunt to get people off his back and stop them thinking of his short term form.

Having said that, this does leave two rather worrying conclusions after....

1. By rallying behind Bell and seemingly not acknowledging him being cast aside at this point, England seem to be backing a player on a long period of poor form, to the extent that it would look stupid if he scores 4 ducks in a row and then jettison him. England have played the long card, the journo's had the opportunity to stick the knife in and declined to take it...... after everyone says "problem, what problem" it would leave everyone in the press and team with egg on their faces if they admitted fault so quickly.

2. My subversively mentioning tiredness, mental draining, and saying he would "take stock", Ian Bell did not paint the picture of a man raring to jump into future battles. Lots of negative language, lots of uncertainty. To get good, he has to believe in his ability and be positive. The statement oozes of anything but.

In fact, the only other conclusion from his words you can make is, if he wasnt taking "stock" of his career future on his own terms, he is inferring he might get dropped.

at the end of the day it shouldn't really be his decision anyway

I expect the selectors to bottle it and he will play all winter however , we can look forward to the occasional pretty 50 that his fans will drool over and tell everyone how that justifies his selection

The problem is there isn't exactly a long list of people to take his place

He would have been dropped already had James Taylor faired better in the county championship

1 hundred in 12 matches is unusually poor for him at a time when a good run would have got him in the team

The most successful domestic top order batsman over the last couple of seasons has been Scott Borthwick. Don't hear many suggesting him to come into the side.

Making_Splinters wrote:The most successful domestic top order batsman over the last couple of seasons has been Scott Borthwick. Don't hear many suggesting him to come into the side.

I did suggests him a few weeks ago but my only caveat was that he's another left hand bat. At present so many top order batsmen who might lay claim to an England place are lefties. Being a right hand batsman adds to Hale's appeal.

Not only is Bell staying, he's looking forward to winning in Australia in two years' time. Sorted.

Making_Splinters wrote:The most successful domestic top order batsman over the last couple of seasons has been Scott Borthwick. Don't hear many suggesting him to come into the side.

Taylor averages 45 this season, Borthwick 44.....

Taylor hasnt been brilliant recently, and thats why he isnt there. Borthwick has never had a real standout year yet. If he could do that, he puts himself in contention.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Not only is Bell staying, he's looking forward to winning in Australia in two years' time. Sorted.

that'll be a bit soon for him to be part of the coaching setup

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Not only is Bell staying, he's looking forward to winning in Australia in two years' time. Sorted.

If Bell can get back into form and start making proper runs then there is no reason for him not to be playing in two years time.

That's a big if at present.

hopeforthebest wrote:

Making_Splinters wrote:The most successful domestic top order batsman over the last couple of seasons has been Scott Borthwick. Don't hear many suggesting him to come into the side.

I did suggests him a few weeks ago but my only caveat was that he's another left hand bat. At present so many top order batsmen who might lay claim to an England place are lefties. Being a right hand batsman adds to Hale's appeal.

More commenting on the fact we have a number three playing in the first division who's made over a 1000 runs at better than 40 for three seasons on the trott, yet he gets little to no mention. I read in the comments on cricinfo that Borthwick's batting "isn't good enough". If that's not good enough I don't know who you can suggest with a better record. That's even ignoring the fact that CLS is hardly renowned as a batsman's home.

sussexpob wrote:

Making_Splinters wrote:The most successful domestic top order batsman over the last couple of seasons has been Scott Borthwick. Don't hear many suggesting him to come into the side.

Taylor averages 45 this season, Borthwick 44.....

Taylor hasnt been brilliant recently, and thats why he isnt there. Borthwick has never had a real standout year yet. If he could do that, he puts himself in contention.

Taylor has only had one meaningful innings, his average looks much better because he had a 290 which is 30% of his runs from 22 innings

Unusually inconsistent for him

rich1uk wrote:

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Not only is Bell staying, he's looking forward to winning in Australia in two years' time. Sorted.

that'll be a bit soon for him to be part of the coaching setup

Mahela Jayawardene is already doing some work with England in the UAE this winter so not necessarily...

yorker_129-7 wrote:

rich1uk wrote:

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Not only is Bell staying, he's looking forward to winning in Australia in two years' time. Sorted.

that'll be a bit soon for him to be part of the coaching setup

Mahela Jayawardene is already doing some work with England in the UAE this winter so not necessarily...

That's a baptism of fire

Trying to teach English batsmen to play spin

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Not only is Bell staying, he's looking forward to winning in Australia in two years' time. Sorted.

Are the ashes 2 years away, normally they are only 18 moths away from the series here.