England captain Andrew Strauss has confirmed that Ian Bell will be a direct replacement for the injured Kevin Pietersen in the third Ashes test match, batting at number four, the same as Pietersen. Strauss says that he wants to keep disruption to the England team to a minimum and his happy that Bell will slot straight into Pietersen’s place in the order.
Bell has played in 46 test matches for England, batting in various positions in the England order. His record against the Australian’s though has never been good, his average against the Aussies is just 25.10 in ten tests against his career average of 40.59, something that Bell is only to aware of. “Of all the countries I’ve played, I’ve played well apart from against Australia. I know that – it’s in the back of my mind,” he told Sky Sports News.
Not too much pressure there then!
Strauss has also said that he is confident that Andrew Flintoff will be fit to play in the third test at Edgbaston, a much needed figurehead with the departure of KP. Strauss says that England are confident going into the third match with a one nil advantage, but has warned his players that there is no room for complacency as he expects an Aussie backlash in the hardest test so far in the series.
0 comments so far
There are no comments for this post yet. Why not be the first by filling out the form below.