Brief 19: Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for Bell.

 My favourite cricketer has announced his retirement. Or at least, he was my favourite cricketer for quite a while – probably from about 2009 to 2017 or so. I first saw Ian Bell play when he was about 10, on a tour to the Midlands when he played for a team called Kenilworth Wardens, and followed his career closely all the way. His first test match was in 2004, his last in 2015.

He never quite convinced some people – throughout his career he was accused of mental fragility, of being a fairweather player, a supporting player, not being dominant enough … for those who like their sports stars puffing their chest out and staring the opposition down, his quiet manner and timidity were anathema. He was often the one people were calling to be dropped, and even when he was scoring centuries, there’d be suggestions that these were cheap runs, or questions as to why he didn’t do this more often.

Of course, some of us warm to that fragility, real or imagined. Bell’s test career had peaks and troughs – it ended with a disappointing decline which means that, on statistics alone, he won’t quite be seen as a great of the highest order. Yet, it’s good enough. He made 22 test centuries, more than the likes of David Gower, Graeme Gooch, Len Hutton.

Some will say, with his exquisitely elegant technique, with how good he was when he was at his best, it’s a shame it couldn’t be 10,000 test runs at an average of 47, not 7,700 at 43. But there are so many constituent parts that make up a test batsman, and the established narratives don’t tell the whole story. A decent comparison for Bell is Amir Khan – he was both mentally tougher and technically more flawed than is the general impression.

People dwell on the weakness, but, in the end, there is far more triumph than failure. He came back from knocks and doubts, better than ever, more than once. He, famously, scored 3 centuries in a series against one of the best Australian attacks going, in the 2013 Ashes.

One thing I noticed, in a TV interview he gave yesterday, the supposedly timid eyes were noticeably steely. I suspect he’s one of those guys people never saw as “leadership material” but who will make an excellent coach.

I recently watched a documentary, ‘The Edge’, about the rise and fall of the Strauss-era England side. It was good, but focused a bit too much for my liking on the obvious tales, the ones that had made the news, and had less from the quieter, less ostentatious guys like Bell. He remains, in that sense, pretty unknowable, but hopefully will achieve the full acclaim now he rarely received during his career.