Bell hopes his Test career is not over

London, April 30: Ian Bell was left feeling both frustrated and fearful for his England future after being left out of the squad for next week`s first Test against the West Indies at Lord`s.

The 27-year-old Warwickshire batsman believed he`d done all that was asked of him by scoring two early season centuries for his county having been dropped following February`s series opener with the West Indies in Jamaica.

But the selectors left out Bell and Owais Shah, the man who replaced him in the Caribbean, as well as opting against a recall for former England captain Michael Vaughan.
Instead they have opted to play Ravi Bopara at number three, having been impressed by the way the Essex all-rounder made 104 in his last Test appearance, against the West Indies.

"The message I got coming back from the West Indies was to score big hundreds and make sure you hit the ground running, which is what I thought I`d done so I thought I was in a good position, but I now have to keep working and keep scoring runs in county cricket," Bell said.

Should Bopara be given both matches in the upcoming two-Test series with the West Indies in which to make the problematic No 3 position his own, it leaves the likes of Bell with precious few matches in which to impress ahead of the Ashes, which start in July.

"The problem I have now is the way the fixtures are set out," said Bell, dropped by England after averaging just 19.45 in his previous six Tests.

"I have this four-day match with the England Lions (against the tourists), we have a championship match against Yorkshire next week and there is a month of Twenty20 cricket.”

"So there`s not a lot of time and opportunity to go and score big hundreds in four-day cricket and push to get your place back in the Test team," Bell explained.

Early in his career Bell was regarded as one of England`s brightest prospects but he has recently had to confront accusations he does not score runs when they are most needed.

And the view that Bell has a suspect temperament will only gain ground after he was omitted from the first England squad chosen since former Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower, renowned for his resilience in his playing days, was appointed on a permanent basis as the team`s head coach.

However, there are three first-class matches that Bell could play in before the first Test against Australia in Cardiff - two County Championship fixtures and an Edgbaston clash between Warwickshire and an England XI.

Even if Bell, who last July made a Test-best 199 against South Africa at Lord`s, cannot force his way back in on his own merits, England`s recent run of injuries suggest he may well get another chance before the Ashes are concluded.

"It`s a long summer and there`s a lot of cricket coming up," said Bell.
"Just because I`m not picked in this Test match now doesn`t mean I won`t be playing in the Ashes and I`ve got to keep believing that I can and believe if I keep scoring the runs then I`ve got a chance of playing.