Flower offers one-day hope to Bell
February 08, 2012 08:39:23 UK
England coach Andy Flower has given hope to axed batsman Ian Bell that his one-day international career is not over, despite him being dropped for the series against Pakistan.
The 29-year-old right-hander suffered a tough time during the recent 3-0 Test series whitewash by Pakistan and has paid the price for his failures, with Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow included in the squads for the four ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals in the UAE.
He's not too old to fight his way back into the side and he's a very fine international cricketer.
Andy Flower
England are 1.33 to come out on top in the one-day series and are 2.00 to win by a 3-1 margin, with Pakistan 1213.00 to take the honours.
However, Bell has been given hope of a future recall, with Flower saying: "Ian Bell is a very fine player who has had a hard time in this Test series and who hasn't had that many chances recently in one-day cricket for us.
"I spoke to him about the one-day situation and he was very mature in his acceptance of it.
"What I did say to him was that this doesn't mean that his one-day career is necessarily over. He's not too old to fight his way back into the side and he's a very fine international cricketer."
Bell has played in 108 ODIs to date, making just one century - that coming against India at Southampton in August 2007.
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