Bell is on his second Ashes tour with England.
  • Bell is on his second Ashes tour with England.
  • He made his mark at a very young age for Warwickshire.
  • He led the Bears to the Clydesdale Bank 40 title this summer.
  • Having started at No.3 in the order he became more settled at six.
  • The right-hander has a superb technique, making him one of the most pleasing players to watch.

An elegant and technically correct batsman, Bell was a highly-touted prospect throughout his teenage years.

He represented England Under 19s at just 16 and almost made his Test debut as a 19-year-old when he joined the 2001/02 tour of New Zealand as cover for Mark Butcher.

Butcher recovered from injury on that occasion and Bell had to wait more than three years, until the final Test of the 2004 summer against West Indies, to make his bow.

His first taste of Ashes action the following year did not go well as, although he played in all five Tests, he contributed little to England's 2-1 series triumph and, at times, was made to look like a rabbit in the headlights by Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.

He seemed to have arrived as a Test cricketer during the summer of 2006 when he plundered three centuries in a row against Pakistan - although, despite his performances earning him the ICC's Emerging Player of the Year Award, it proved something of a false dawn.

Bell rarely had a settled position, he has batted everywhere from two to seven in the order during his 57 Tests, and the uncertainty contributed to the stop-start nature of his international career.

He toured Australia four years ago, batting at number three in all five Tests and scoring 331 runs, including four half-centuries.

But the promise shown in adverse circumstances on that trip soon disappeared again and he was twice dropped early in Andy Flower's reign as team director.

The turning point came on last winter's tour of South Africa, where a match-saving 78 spanning almost five hours at Newlands helped England claim a share of a hard-fought series.

He has recovered from a foot injury in time for the Ashes tour and the 28-year-old heads Down Under looking to set the record straight - he averages 25.68 in 13 Tests against Australia, compared with a career mark of 42.92.