England batsman left out of squad for five-match series against Australia

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Ian Bell says deep down he knew he wasn’t ready to call time on his England Test career.
Ian Bell says deep down he knew he wasn't ready to call time on his England Test career.

London - Bell, who has scored an England record 5,416 runs in 161 one-dayers, was left out of the squad for the five-match series against Australia starting next week.

By Reuters

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Published: Sat 29 Aug 2015, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Sat 29 Aug 2015, 12:54 PM

 England batsman Ian Bell is retiring from one-day internationals to concentrate on prolonging his Test career, the 33-year-old said on Friday.
Bell, who has scored an England record 5,416 runs in 161 one-dayers, was left out of the squad for the five-match series against Australia starting next week.
He helped his team win this year's Ashes, a record-equalling fifth Test series victory for him over the Australians, but averaged only 26.87 with the bat.
But Bell, writing in his Metro column published on Friday, said: "At the end of every Ashes series you're left physically and mentally drained and, as I said to Jonathan Agnew as the celebrations began at The Oval, I needed a bit of time to consider what the future holds.
"I spoke with coach Trevor Bayliss and Alastair Cook after the Oval loss, we had a really good talk and I was as honest as I could be.
"Deep down, though, I think I probably knew I wasn't ready to call time on my England Test career.
"I still have that hunger and desire."
Bell has scored 7,569 runs in 115 Tests at an average of 43, including 22 centuries.
"I have a huge amount still to give in the Test arena and still have so many ambitions left to achieve, both from a personal and a team perspective," he said.
"I would love nothing more than to go to Australia in two years' time and right the wrongs of our last Ashes tour there," the right-hander added in reference to the 5-0 whitewash suffered last year.
"I'm not afraid of being dropped. I'm looking forward to challenging myself and putting myself into difficult situations against the best players in the world." 


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