England Batsman Ian Bell Announces Retirement From ODI's Saturday August 29,2015

 

Ian Bell has confirmed his intention to retire from one-day international cricket as he seeks to prolong his test career after winning the Ashes for the fifth time in his illustrious England career earlier this month.

The Warwickshire batsman, who has featured in 115 tests, 161 ODIs and eight Twenty20 matches for his country since debuting against the West Indies in August 2004, endured a mixed series against Australia and averaged 26.87 over nine innings with three half-centuries and a high score of 65 achieved in the crucial eight-wicket victory at Edgbaston.

Ian Bell has been criticised extensively for his lack of form at times over recent months, but was elevated to number three during the aforementioned third test as head coach Trevor Bayliss and captain Alastair Cook altered their batting order after deciding to omit Gary Ballance.

And after admitting he needed time to assess things following the draining experience of England's 4-1 win that ended on something of a sour note with a heavy defeat at The Oval, the 33-year-old insists he is not yet ready to step away from the test arena but will opt out of ODI duty to allow England's younger crop to stake their claim.
"For that reason I've decided now is the right time to officially stand down from international one-day cricket and put all my focus and attention on my Test career," he revealed in his column for The Metro newspaper. "I've 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.
"I spoke with our Trevor Bayliss, Paul Farbrace and Alastair Cook in the aftermath of the Oval Test. 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. The day you don't, is the day you step away