Bell leads Warwickshire to control
It hasn't just been Bell's batting that has shone here - deeply impressive though that has been - but his captaincy
George Dobell at Trent Bridge
19-May-2011
There was a moment at Trent Bridge on the second day of this game when Ian Bell - fielding at mid-on - ran the best part of 40 yards, dived at full stretch and came within an ace of pulling off a quite incredible catch, only to find himself jeered by a group of Nottinghamshire supporters.
While the heckles were no doubt intended in good humour, it was a bit of a shame to hear them.
For anyone present at Trent Bridge yesterday was fortunate to see a masterful performance by a fine cricketer who really might be on the brink of a special few years. Indeed, one of the Nottinghamshire players remarked that it was a "pleasure just to be on the same pitch" as Bell.
It hasn't just been Bell's batting that has shone here - deeply impressive though that has been - but his captaincy. He followed a chanceless, selfless century, with a confident, imaginative display of captaincy that suggested that the England management may well have missed a trick by overlooking him for the ODI captaincy. It is understood that he was interviewed for the position.
Perhaps Bell has only himself to blame. Despite every opportunity, he has yet to absolutely nail down his place in the ODI side and England would be taking a gamble by appointing him to the captaincy. But if that is true for him, what about Alastair Cook, who wasn't even a member of the World Cup party?
Bell has been quite brilliant here. After shaping the game with the 34th first-class century of his career, he became the first captain to force Nottinghamshire to follow-on since 2009. Warwickshire are now in an excellent position to force their second successive crushing victory and knock the champions off the top of the table.
Not for one moment did Bell let play drift. Urging his attack to hit the pitch far more aggressively that Nottinghamshire had done, he also utilised various novel fielding positions, including three short mid-wickets alongside a short mid-on, and an assortment of leg-gullys and leg slips. It was, perhaps, the most inspired display of captaincy Warwickshire have enjoyed since Dermot Reeve left them.
With 21 wickets having fallen in the day, it would be natural to conclude that this game is being played on another treacherous pitch. But it's not so. Yes, there is the typical amount of seam and swing movement to be expected at Trent Bridge (not since September 2004 have a Notts pair posted a century opening stand in the Championship here), but the bounce is even and the pace moderate. A score of 300 might be considered par.
Instead Nottinghamshire's batsmen have simply lacked application. Warwickshire bowled pretty well, Boyd Rankin in particular, but just about every wicket in Nottinghamshire's first innings owed more to batsman error than anything unplayable.
Perhaps they also lacked a little fortune. Adam Voges, for example, felt that he had squeezed the ball into the ground when he was given out caught at point, while Paul Franks was hardly over-whelmed by the leg before decision that accounted for him.
Generally, however, Nottinghamshire looked uncomfortable against a Warwickshire attack who hit the pitch hard and appeared more hungry for success.
A couple of batsmen looked most uncomfortable against Rankin's pace and bounce. Steven Mullaney, who sustained a horrid blow in the previous game against Sussex, was peppered with short balls and fell victim to the tactic twice in the day (once caught hooking; the other time fending to short-leg), while Ali Brown sustained a horrid blow to the head off Rankin and, aged 41, looked horribly off the pace in both innings.
Others played more of a part in their downfall. Mark Wagh clipped to mid-wicket, Akhil Patel edged a loose drive, Graeme Swann prodded to point and Adams missed an ugly swipe.
Darren Maddy, bowling wicket-to-wicket and nibbling the ball about just enough to keep the batsmen honest, held a fine return catch to dismiss Chris Read, and persuaded one to nip back to beat Brown's forward prod. Stuart Broad, the only man to make more than 16, was the last to go, edging one angled across him.
Forced to follow-on 259 runs behind, Nottinghamshire were soon in even deeper trouble. Patel edged a fine ball, angled across him, before Wagh, in his last first-class match against the club where he spent so much of his career, received the only unplayable ball of the day, a brute that climbed and left him from the hostile Rankin. It means Notts go into the third day requiring 199 more runs just to force Warwickshire to bat again.
Earlier Bell batted superbly to lead Warwickshire to an imposing total and four batting points. Treating an attack including four international bowlers with something approaching disdain at times, he easily won the duel with England colleague, Broad. Bell drove Broad for a series of sumptuous boundaries on either side of the wicket, before flicking Charlie Shreck over mid-wicket for six. He didn't look in trouble once.
Broad was somewhat flattered to finish with three wickets. One of them was a tailender and another was Bell, left with only Rankin for company, who flat-batted a slog to mid-on. Both Swann and Jonathan Trott look as if they will go into the Test against Sri Lanka with little meaningful cricket under their belt.
But Bell looks in fine form. Great things have been predicted of him for half his life but now, aged 29 and more confident and competent than ever before, this really could be his time.
