Shut your eyes and think of England.

[D/L]

You obviously don't read my posts on Bell very carefully, you'd be hard pressed to find me praising him for his England performances but tend only to defend him against unreasonable criticism, as I tend to do with many players. I posted for years that Bell should not play T20 but the idea that he couldn't be good at it has rarely been tested, though when it has he's been far from a failure.

then surely, with T20 opportunities in county cricket last weekend, why wasn't he playing in those games even before the International call up?

Warwickshire haven't played a T20 yet.

No, some team called Birmingham are playing instead of them this year.

Good luck to them. It won't be easy for a new team to make their mark in a professional competition against seasoned campaigners.

[D/L]

I suppose he could have played in the tourist warm ups.

I think Bell may have been called up in the winter as a means to staunch some of the reaction to KP's sacking, the intention being that here's another popular England player for you. Let's move on. But bad decisions are hard to make into good decisions. With Bell producing some good ODI performances, they seemed to get a bit carried away and believe he should play T20 too.

All that's guesswork, but then it's quite difficult to explain the selectoral contortions that England get into. It's not hard to imagine Bell producing some good T20 performances, but it feels completely unnecessary to me when we really need Cook and Bell to concentrate on getting their Test form back after two years of overall batting malfunction.

Your conspiracy theories regarding KP get more convoluted with every posting.

That's one of the more believable ones.

[Making_Splinters]

I suppose he could have played in the tourist warm ups.

I think Bell may have been called up in the winter as a means to staunch some of the reaction to KP's sacking, the intention being that here's another popular England player for you. Let's move on. But bad decisions are hard to make into good decisions. With Bell producing some good ODI performances, they seemed to get a bit carried away and believe he should play T20 too.

All that's guesswork, but then it's quite difficult to explain the selectoral contortions that England get into. It's not hard to imagine Bell producing some good T20 performances, but it feels completely unnecessary to me when we really need Cook and Bell to concentrate on getting their Test form back after two years of overall batting malfunction.

Your conspiracy theories regarding KP get more convoluted with every posting.

That's one of the more believable ones.

Bell is the one of the most inform batsman in the country, he's also a senior England player. In a side that has missed geniune quality and has been well beaten time and again, I don't get why it is so suprising that Bell was selected for the T20 side.

The responce seems based on preconceived notions that Bell can't play T20 with out even giving him a chance. Bell was singled out for criticism on here after the last match despite most of the other batsmen doing equally as poorly.

[sussexpob]

Bell is the one of the most inform batsman in the country,

As proved by the fact he scored his last T20 fifty in 2010.... bang in form.

[hopeforthebest]

Bell is the one of the most inform batsman in the country,

As proved by the fact he scored his last T20 fifty in 2010.... bang in form.

Why turn your ire on Bell rather than the selectors. Perhaps if you went and spent a year or two in darkened room you might come out feeling better.

[sussexpob]

Bell is the one of the most inform batsman in the country,

As proved by the fact he scored his last T20 fifty in 2010.... bang in form.

Why turn your ire on Bell rather than the selectors. Perhaps if you went and spent a year or two in darkened room you might come out feeling better.

Here is what I said... quite clearly aimed at the selectors

The picking of Ian Bell in the T20 SL game, is for me anyway, more proof of the contempt that the ECB and their management have generally for the domestic game. On so many levels that decision to pick him for that format, and made worse when D/L pointed out he hadn't play a single T20 match in three years, is further evidence that the ECB seem to operate in a world of their own

[hopeforthebest]

sussex has it dawned on you that maybe the selectors were impressed by Bell's 50 in the Scotland ODI @ 144 S/R and felt he might be able to translate that into T20 games. So talking about 3 years since his last T20 game is less relevant.

[sussexpob]

sussex has it dawned on you that maybe the selectors were impressed by Bell's 50 in the Scotland ODI @ 144 S/R and felt he might be able to translate that into T20 games. So talking about 3 years since his last T20 game is less relevant.

Not really.... against the might of Suffolk's first change bowler, a guy with a FC average of 70, another with a FC average of 45, a 2nd XI county guy with 7 wickets in FC, and another who has never played a FC game in, or against, a non-associate nation, I would expect most county batsman to be well above the quality to perform to a very high standard.

[Making_Splinters]

Bell is the one of the most inform batsman in the country,

As proved by the fact he scored his last T20 fifty in 2010.... bang in form.

This comment is completely nonsensical, Sussex. Bell hasn't played a T20 this season, he is however averaging over 70 in first class cricket and has made back to back 50s in his last two ODIs.

Form refers to how a batsman is currently playing, in case you are confused.

[sussexpob]

Bell is the one of the most inform batsman in the country,

As proved by the fact he scored his last T20 fifty in 2010.... bang in form.

This comment is completely nonsensical, Sussex. Bell hasn't played a T20 this season, he is however averaging over 70 in first class cricket and has made back to back 50s in his last two ODIs.

Form refers to how a batsman is currently playing, in case you are confused.

Lewis Hamilton has won a few GP's back to back, he's on form too.... should we pick him?

[Making_Splinters]

Bell is the one of the most inform batsman in the country,

As proved by the fact he scored his last T20 fifty in 2010.... bang in form.

This comment is completely nonsensical, Sussex. Bell hasn't played a T20 this season, he is however averaging over 70 in first class cricket and has made back to back 50s in his last two ODIs.

Form refers to how a batsman is currently playing, in case you are confused.

Lewis Hamilton has won a few GP's back to back, he's on form too.... should we pick him?

Another utterly nonsensical comment.

[sussexpob]

You seem to be suggesting he is on form in a sport that he hasnt played for three years, and then accuse me of talking nonsense?

Should Mo Farah enter the 100m's because he is on form with his "running"?

The best T20 player in the world cant get a game for his county side..... thats how much county form means.... Me talking nonsense?

The sad irony is, that opinion is what has destroyed English limited overs teams for over two decades....

[Making_Splinters]

You keep trying to make completely irrelevant analogies in an attempt to obfuscate the issue at hand.

Hales has had plenty of opportunies over the last few seasons to show what he can do in the longer form of the game, and has done pretty much nothing to justify a place in a decent county line up. Bell has not had the opportunity to play T20 cricket to show what he can do in the format.

I wasn't aware that T20 was a different sport to cricket.

I wonder what you'll come up with next.

[sussexpob]

So essentially you are arguing that we should pick limited overs players based on 4 day form? That he can score a 180 ball 100, so he can score 180 in a 100 balls?

[Making_Splinters]

No, nor would I suggest that Notts suddenly pick Hales simply because he played a good knock the other night.

I do, however, not see why Bell is being singled out when Carbs, Morgan and Root all played played equally badly.