Spot the difference:
Ian Bell's centrally contracted year in full:
vs India: 49 runs at 16.33
vs West Indies: 32 runs at 16.00
vs Australia: 140 runs at 28.00
2009 stat attack:
172 runs at 24.57 [0 x 100, 2 x 50]
IR Bell: full contract.
Ravi Bopara's centrally contracted year in full:
vs West Indies [a]: 104 runs at 104.00
vs West Indies [h]: 251 runs at 125.50
vs Australia: 105 runs at 15.00
2009 stat attack:
460 runs at 46.00 [3x100, 0x 50]
RS Bopara: Incremental contract
Quote of the day:
'England have invested a lot in Ian Bell*. He's played 49 Test matches, he's got a lot of experience, he's still relatively young. I hope he's still got a lot to offer English cricket in the future, but only he can determine how well he does'. - Andy Flower, England coach
* Yeah, a lot of money.
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4 comments:
But he does look pretty, doesn't he?
Take your point but in fairness it's not just Bell thats the problem. You could add Alastair Cooks name to that list, since his century in Sri Lanka in December 2007 he has made only two more hundreds and both were against West Indies this year.
Collingwood hasn't done much since the tour of West Indies and is deemed good enough (by himself probably) not to need to go back and play championship cricket for Durham between the 4th and 5th Ashes test when all the other batting failures had to play for their counties. Who made that decision, the selectors or Collingwood himself?
Bopara I think needs a run lower down the order and should be judged then, when he gets that chance is another story.
And Bell, yes has to improve.
I agree the selctors and Andy Flower do make some strange decisions and make some strange remarks. Responding to Steve Harmison not getting a contract I heard Andy Flower on the radio saying it is up to Harmison to fight his way back into the England side, is he trying to say that Harmison has already been dropped from the team since the Oval test, or did he not notice him playing there?
It will be interesting to see if they offer one J Trott a central contract next year.
CBB - you're right, yes, although Cook and Colly's stats retain a veneer of acceptability... sort of... if you squint your eyes...
It's odd isn't it, how Bell is 'the man in possession' and Harmi must 'fight his way back' yet they're both officially 'in' the team as of the last test...
Bats - he'll probably be captain and chairman of the ECB the way they're talking him up...
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