Napier Bridge

Napier Bridge is a bridge in Chennai (Madras), India, built over the Coovum River connecting Fort St. George with the Marina beach. One of the city's oldest bridges, it was built in 1869 by Francis Napier who was the Governor of Madras from 1866 to 1872.

Alongside the iron bridge built in 1869, a new bridge was built in 1999 with a 10.5 m-wide carriageway on the western side. The eastern side carriageway is 9.75 m in width. The bridge is 138 m long with 6 spans across the river near its mouth.^[1]

As part of the Marina Beach beautification project, special lights have been fixed beneath the bridge providing a visual effect as if the bridge is floating on the river water. A combination of lighting effects has been created on the arches and surface using 464 bulbs and fixtures. ^[2]

The lighting designers for the bridge's new look was awarded to LDP of Sydney Australia, who have also designed the lighting for the Erasmus Bridge Rotterdam^[3], Sydney Harbour Bridge^[4], and the Sydney Opera House ^[5]. www.LDP.net

References[link]

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Coordinates: 13°04′07″N 80°17′04″E / 13.06874°N 80.284465°E / 13.06874; 80.284465

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Graham Napier

Personal information
Full name	Graham Richard Napier
Born	(1980-01-06) 6 January 1980 (age 32) Colchester, Essex, England
Nickname	Napes, George
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Batting style	Right handed
Bowling style	Right arm Fast
Role	All-rounder
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1997–present	Essex (squad no. 17)
2007/08	Wellington
2009/10	Central District Stags (squad no. 8)
2004	MCC
2009–present	Mumbai Indians (squad no. 17)
First-class debut	7 May 1997 Essex v Cambridge University
Last First-class	23 September 2009 Essex v Derbyshire County Cricket Club
List A debut	10 August 1997 Essex v Kent
Last List A	19 July 2009 Essex v Gloucestershire
Career statistics
Competition	FC	List A	T20	U19 T
Matches	112	208	76	4
Runs scored	3,860	2,523	786	138
Batting average	31.12	18.28	15.72	23.00
100s/50s	5/21	0/12	1/0	0/0
Top score	196	79	152*	40
Balls bowled	14,687	7,062	1,617	192
Wickets	248	237	96	2
Bowling average	36.18	25.67	20.66	69.50
5 wickets in innings	6	1	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	n/a	0
Best bowling	6/53	6/29	4/10	1/10
Catches/stumpings	42/–	47/–	21/–	1/–
Source: cricketarchive, 7 April 2012

Graham Richard Napier (born 6 January 1980 in Colchester, Essex) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium fast bowler.^[1] Napier has played first-class cricket for his home county of Essex since the outset of his senior career in 1997. Between 1997 and 1999 Napier played in four Youth Test matches in England against Zimbabwe, South Africa (twice) and Australia's respective under-19 teams. He was also a member of the 1998 U-19 Cricket World Cup-winning squad. Was on the books of Ipswich Town as a goalkeeper and played for a season on loan at Felixstowe Town.

Playing Style[link]

Graham Napier is a fast-medium bowler, whose stock delivery reaches between 85mph-90mph. Napier has displayed a slower ball in Twenty20 games which has proved hard to spot. As a batsman, Napier can be among the most deadly not only in domestic cricket but in world cricket also. He has twice hit 16 sixes in an innings, once in a Twenty20 match, and once in a County Championship match. His fielding has been known to be slightly below par, but it can be put down to the fact that Napier is very injury prone and he cannot afford to throw himself around.

Twenty 20[link]

Napier participated in the 2003, 2004 and 2006 Twenty20 Cups, in which he aided his Essex team to the 2004 Quarter Finals.

In a Twenty20 cup match against Sussex on 24 June 2008, Napier scored 152 not out from 58 balls. The innings set a number of records, notably the highest individual score in a T20 innings in England, and in the domestic Twenty20 competition; the highest number of sixes in an individual Twenty20 innings (16); the most runs scored in boundaries in an individual Twenty20 innings (136 runs, scored as 10 fours, and 16 sixes).^[2] It also broke the record for most sixes in a domestic one-day innings, and tied the record for most sixes in any domestic innings, tying the record set by Andrew Symonds, during a County Championship game in 1995.

He was signed by the Mumbai Indians for the 2009 IPL Season for an undisclosed amount.

In March 2009, Napier was called up to the England Lions squad for the first time since 2004. Geoff Miller, one of the selectors, said "the selectors felt this was a good opportunity for us to have a closer look at him within the England set-up".^[3] On 1 May 2009, Napier was confirmed as a member of the 15 man England squad for the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup on the same day as he made his first appearance for the Mumbai Indians.

First class[link]

On 19 May 2011, Napier equalled the record for most sixes scored in a first-class innings.^[4] He hit 16 sixes as part of a 130-ball 196 for Essex. It was his first first class innings for 11 months, after being sidelined with a back injury. He hit 103 runs from the last 29 balls of his innings. After his innings, Napier told BBC Essex that he considers himself as mainly a bowler.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Graham Napier at Cricket Archive
• Player profile: Graham Napier from ESPNcricinfo
• Graham Napier's Official Website

v t e England squad – 2009 ICC World Twenty20 3 Shah 5 Collingwood 8 Broad 9 Anderson 15 Foster 24 Pietersen 32 Mascarenhas 35 Key 39 Morgan 42 Bopara 45 Wright 48 Napier 66 Swann 78 Sidebottom 95 Rashid Coach: Flower

Ian Bell
MBE

Personal information
Full name	Ian Ronald Bell
Born	(1982-04-11) 11 April 1982 (age 30) Walsgrave, Coventry, West Midlands, England
Nickname	Belly
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm medium
Role	Batsman
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 626)	19 August 2004 v West Indies
Last Test	20 May 2012 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 184)	28 November 2004 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI	25 October 2011 v India
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1999–present	Warwickshire
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	74	108	199	232
Runs scored	5,161	3,324	13,581	7,537
Batting average	46.49	34.04	45.42	37.68
100s/50s	16/29	1/19	38/68	7/53
Top score	235	126*	262*	158
Balls bowled	108	88	2,827	1,290
Wickets	1	6	47	33
Bowling average	76.00	14.66	34.00	34.48
5 wickets in innings	0	0	0	1
10 wickets in match	0	0	0	0
Best bowling	1/33	3/9	4/4	5/41
Catches/stumpings	59/–	35/–	138/–	82/–
Source: Cricinfo, 15 April 2012

Ian Ronald Bell MBE (born 11 April 1982) is an English cricketer who plays international cricket for the England cricket team. He also plays county cricket for Warwickshire County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed higher/middle order batsman, described in The Times as an "exquisite rapier,"^[1] and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler. He is also noted for his sharp reflexes and often fields in close catching positions. He has scored sixteen Test centuries and one ODI 100. He is one of only a handful of Batsman to have scored a test century against all current test playing nations (this excludes Zimbabwe).

In the 2006 New Year Honours List, Ian Bell was awarded the MBE for his role in the successful Ashes campaign of 2005. In November 2006, he was awarded the Emerging Player of the Year award by the International Cricket Council. During 2008 and 2009, he was a more infrequent member of the England teams – however he reclaimed his Test place during the 2009 Ashes, which England won, and featured in several ODIs the following year. During 2010, he captained Warwickshire to victory in the CB40 final before scoring his first Ashes century the following winter as he helped England retain the Ashes down-under. Warwickshire County Cricket Club awarded Bell a benefit in 2011.

Early life[link]

Bell attended Princethorpe College and made the 1st XI in year 7. He also attended Coventry City's football school of excellence, despite being a supporter of Aston Villa. His brother Keith, born two years later, has played amateur cricket for Staffordshire, and has also played seven games for the Warwickshire Second XI.^[2]

Early career[link]

Bell made three appearances for Warwickshire's second team in 1998, his next matches at senior level were with the England Under-19 cricket team on their tour of New Zealand that winter. He made 91 in the first innings of the first Test, and 115 in the first innings of the third; Dayle Hadlee called Bell "the best 16-year-old I've ever seen",^[3] and he was often compared with former England captain Michael Atherton. Bell played in several more Under-19 series, captaining the team at home against Sri Lanka in 2000, in their 2000/01 tour of India, and for the first match at home against West Indies in 2001.

By this time Bell had made his first-class debut, appearing in a single match for the Warwickshire first team in September 1999, but was out for a duck in his only innings and played no further part at that level until 2000/01, when he followed on from his Under-19 matches by playing for England A against the Leeward Islands in the Busta Cup tournament game in Anguilla.

Bell broke into the Warwickshire first-team in 2001 as he scored 836 runs in 16 innings including three centuries and two scores of 98. His first century, a score of 130 against Oxford UCCE, made him the county's youngest ever centurion at 19 years and 56 days. He also became the county's youngest capped player ever when Warwickshire awarded him a county cap on the final day of the season.

Bell was named in the first intake of the ECB National Academy who spent the 2001/02 winter in Australia.^[4] The day after he returned home from Adelaide he was brought into the full England Test squad to cover for the injured Mark Butcher on the New Zealand tour.

In 2002 Bell's four-day form fell away as he scored 658 at an average of 24.37 however he was instrumental in the counties Benson & Hedges Cup success. He top-scored in the Quarter-final (scoring 85 not out), Semi-final (46) and Final (65 not out), the latter performance winning him the Gold Award in the last ever Benson & Hedges Cup final.

Bell's best form in 2003 once again came in the one-day format, he scored 779 runs at 28.85 in the County Championship compared to 560 runs at 43.07 in the National League, his best performance came at Chelmsford where he scored his maiden one-day century, 125 off 113 deliveries, as well as taking 5/41, his best one-day bowling figures. This was only the second time a Warwickshire player had achieved this feat.^[5]

After two poor seasons Bell was back to his best in 2004, he scored 1498 Championship runs which included six centuries. One of the six was a career-best 262 not out against Sussex; the innings lasting ten minutes short of ten hours made him the county's youngest ever double-centurion. In late July he began an impressive sequence of four centuries in five first-class innings, the other being a score of 96 not out. The centuries in both innings against Lancashire were the first by a Warwickshire batsman against an authentic attack (David Hemp achieved the feat against declaration bowling) since Brian Lara in 1994.^[6] This run of form led to him being brought into the England Test squad when Graham Thorpe was left doubtful with a finger injury.^[7]

International career[link]

2004 – West Indies[link]

Bell made his international debut in the final match of the Test series against the West Indies at The Oval. He hit 70, batting at number five in England's first innings; he was not required to bat again as England forced the West Indies to follow on and won the game by ten wickets.^[8]

2004/5 – Zimbabwe and South Africa[link]

Bell was selected as part of the squad to tour Zimbabwe and South Africa and he made his One Day International debut alongside Kevin Pietersen against Zimbabwe at Harare. Bell opened the innings and hit 75, which earnt him his first ODI man-of-the-match award.^[9] He played all four matches of the series averaging 40.75. Although he was not chosen for any of the Tests against South Africa, he was selected for the first four of seven ODI matches but struggled, making 26 runs in three innings.

2005 – Bangladesh and The Ashes[link]

In 2005, Bell enjoyed a superb start to the season, scoring 480 first-class runs in April alone to break Graeme Hick's 17-year-old record. He was recalled to the England team for the two-Test series against Bangladesh, however England's innings victories in both Tests allowed him only two innings. In the first Test at Lord's, Bell made 65 not out, and in the second at Chester-le-Street he scored 162 not out, in the process becoming the first Englishman since Leslie Ames in 1935 to score over 100 runs before lunch in a Test match.^[10]

For the 2005 Ashes series, three players – Bell, Graham Thorpe and Kevin Pietersen – were in the running for two spots in the team, and Bell and Pietersen were preferred to Thorpe. Before the first Test at Lord's, Bell's test average was 297, rising to 303 just before he was out, the fifth highest average at any point of a player's career of all time.^[11] Bell failed in the first two matches, at Lord's and Edgbaston, but in the third Test at Old Trafford he overcame early struggles against Shane Warne to post a half-century in each innings. However, he only scored six runs in four innings in the fourth and fifth Tests, including a pair at the Oval, leaving him with a batting average for the series of only 17.10, by far the lowest of the English batsmen. Despite England winning the Ashes back and receiving an MBE, Bell has since described the 2005 Ashes as a low point during which he doubted himself.^[3]

2005/6 – Pakistan and India[link]

Despite failing against Australia, he was included in the 17-man squad for the winter tour of Pakistan. There was speculation in the press that he would not be included in the Test team, but when Michael Vaughan was injured before the first Test, Bell got another opportunity. He took it, scoring a century and two half-centuries in the three-match series, and becoming England's top scorer in the series with 313 runs at an average of 52.16. He also took his first Test wicket with his part-time bowling.

This form on the subcontinent continued on 18 February 2006 in England's first warm-up game prior to the Test series against India when Bell top-scored with 78 at Mumbai. He could not maintain this form into the Test series where, in 6 innings, he only scored 131 runs at an average of just under 22.

2006 – Sri Lanka and Pakistan[link]

After returning from India, Bell had an average start to the season with Warwickshire. He was named in the squad of 13 for the first home Test of the summer, against Sri Lanka, but with the return of Marcus Trescothick, coupled with the good form of Paul Collingwood and the emergence of Alastair Cook, Bell was dropped from the starting 11. Bell was selected in the squad for the 5 match ODI series against Sri Lanka, and was one of only a couple of players to come through the series with any credit.

As a result of this, and the injury to Andrew Flintoff, Bell was recalled to the Test team for the first Test against Pakistan. After spending most of his career batting in the top four, he was asked to bat at number six. He scored a century in each of the first three Tests, becoming the first Englishman since Graham Gooch to score a century in three successive Test matches, but missed his chance to make it four in a row after scoring only 9 in the first innings and being 9 not out when the fourth Test unexpectedly finished a day early after the Pakistan ball tampering row. He finished the series with an average of 93.75, but surprisingly was not awarded the man-of-the-series award for England, with the honour going to Andrew Strauss who averaged 63.42. This run of form (100*, 28, 106*, 119, 4, 9, 9*) gave him an overall Test average of almost 48. Given his average against Australia was only 17, his average against all other sides was around 68. He also played in the ODI series against Pakistan, achieving his two highest scores at the time: 88 at Sophia Gardens and 86* at Trent Bridge, the latter earning him the man-of-the-match award following England's victory.

2006 – Champions Trophy[link]

In September 2006 Bell was named in the squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in India and also in the squad to tour Australia to attempt to retain the Ashes. In the absence of Marcus Trescothick he was promoted to open the batting for the one-day side. In England's three matches he scored 97 runs, at an average of 32.33. England lost their first two games (to India and Australia) and crashed out of the tournament despite a final group-stage win over eventual runners-up, West Indies.

2006/7 The Ashes[link]

Coming into the Ashes series, with Andrew Flintoff named as captain for the tour and reclaiming his place at number six in the batting order, Bell was viewed as competing with Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood for two places in the starting eleven. However, because Marcus Trescothick returned to England prior to the first Test, Bell, Cook and Collingwood played in the team throughout the series. Scoring a total of 331 runs, including four half centuries, Bell averaged 33.10 for the series. He failed to convert good starts into big scores, and England suffered a 5–0 Test series whitewash. This poor run of results continued into the one-day series: England lost the Twenty20 game and the first of the ODI's. However, England squeaked through into the final of the Commonwealth Bank Series, and dispatched Australia in the finals in two straight games, with Bell scoring 65 in the first of them.

World Cup 2007[link]

Bell was selected as part of England's 15 man squad for the world cup in the West Indies. England had a largely disappointing tournament and Bell's performances were typical of the team as a whole. At the start of the tournament he was selected to bat at number three, as England lost to New Zealand and stuttered to wins over Kenya, Canada and Ireland. Bell suffered an average run of form in these matches, scoring 5, 28, 16 and 31. After defeat to eventual runners up, Sri Lanka, a game is which Bell scored 47, England dropped Ed Joyce from the top of the order and Bell was promoted to open with captain Michael Vaughan. The change in position initially worked well as Bell scored 77 as England lost to Australia, but in the next two games, against Bangladesh and South Africa, he only managed scores of 0 and 7, and was dropped for England's final match against the West Indies, a game which England won. England finished fifth in the Super 8 stage of the tournament and failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

2007 – West Indies and India[link]

Ian Bell scored the fourth of England's hundreds against the West Indies in the first Test at Lord's in May. Along with Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior, they became the first four batsmen for England since 1938 to each score a century in the same Test match. Bell's innings came at number 6 in the batting order and after England declared he had the impressive record at that position of 484 runs at 121.00.

On 21 August 2007, Bell scored his maiden ODI century in the first of seven one-day matches against India, scoring 126 runs off 118 balls (a strike rate of 106.8). Bell went on to score two more fifties in the next two games, including a player-of-the-match 79 at Edgbaston as England took a 2–1 lead in the series. Bell eventually averaged 70.33 for the seven games as England claimed the series 4–3, with a convincing 7 wicket win in the deciding match at Lord's, and Bell was named Man of the Series.^[12]

2007/8 – Sri Lanka[link]

Traveling with the team to Sri Lanka in late September 2007, Bell at first continued his impressive one-day form, scoring 131 from only 121 deliveries, in England's only warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Cricket Board XI.^[13] However, Bell struggled with the bat in the subsequent 5-game ODI series, scoring just 70 runs at an average of 14.00.

Bell recovered form in the first Test match, scoring 83 and 74, in vain, as England fell to an 88-run defeat.^[14] Sri Lanka won the Test series 1–0, after the second and third matches were drawn, and Bell finished the series with a batting average of 43.50.^[15]

2007/8 – New Zealand[link]

Bell initially struggled for form as England opened its five game ODI series against New Zealand with two heavy defeats, scoring just 5 and 0. However, under pressure for his place in the side, Bell top-scored in England's win in Auckland in the third game of the series, with 73 runs, and then made 43 runs from 41 balls as England tied the fourth match, in Napier. Bell managed 24 runs in the final game as New Zealand clinched the series 3–1.

In the first Test match at Hamilton, Bell was hit hard on the wrist during New Zealand's first innings, whilst fielding at short leg. Despite initial fears that his wrist was broken and his tour would be over, the blow turned out to have only caused swelling and bruising. Bell went on to score 25 in England's first innings and top scored in the second innings with an unbeaten 54 as England crumbled to 110 all out and lost the match by 189 runs, the next highest score in the innings being 13 by Alastair Cook.^[16] In the second Test, Bell scored 11 and 41 as England won the match to level the series.^[17] His finest innings of the tour was in the final Test. After scoring 9 in the first innings, Bell was under some pressure to post a big score. He joined Andrew Strauss at the crease with England 140/3 and the pair proceeded to put on 187 runs and effectively put the match beyond New Zealand.^[18] In the process, Bell scored his 7th Test century, and his first overseas for more than two years. He finished the series with a batting average of 50.00, and became the second youngest England player to reach 2,500 runs.^[19]

Bell struggled in the home Test series, however, scoring only 45 runs in four innings, with a high score of 21*.^[20] He hit some form in the Twenty20 match that followed, top scoring with his highest score in that format, 60*, as England won by nine wickets.^[21] He then adopted the opening position for the following ODI series, however his form was intermittent with scores of 46,^[22] 0,^[23] 20,^[24] and 46.^[25]

2008 – South Africa, India and West Indies[link]

Bell started off this series by hitting 199 before being dismissed by Paul Harris, one short of his maiden double century, thus becoming the first Englishman to be dismissed on 199.^[26] After the initial good start to the tour though, Bell struggled to find form and aside from a 50 in the first innings of the third Test.^[27] he did not manage to progress much past the twenties and thirties. He suffered similarly in India and the West Indies, and following England's dismissal for 51 in the First Test, Bell was dropped in favour of Owais Shah.

2009 – The Ashes[link]

Bell reacted well to being dropped and began to consistently score runs in the county championship that led to him being named in the 16-man training party for the tests against Australia and captain of the England Lions for their game against Australia, though he failed in that match, scoring 0 (a golden duck) and 20,^[28] and remained on the sidelines for the first two Tests of the series.

Bell was selected to play in the third Test at Edgbaston, his home ground, replacing the injured Kevin Pietersen. On his return to the Test side and batting at number three, he scored 53 in England's only innings in a drawn match. The 4th Test Match at Headingley, in which he was twice dismissed edging Mitchell Johnson for scores of eight and three gave Bell his part of a Test record – for the first time in the history of Test cricket the same middle order, three (Ravi Bopara), four (Bell) and five (Paul Collingwood), all failed to reach double figures in either innings, contributing 16 runs between them.^[29]

Nonetheless Bell made 126 against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge the next week. He was then selected to play in the final Test at The Oval, and scored 72 to lay a foundation for England's 172-run first-innings lead. Though he was dismissed for four in the second innings, a debut century from Warwickshire colleague Jonathan Trott led England to a 197-run victory, and thus a 2–1 series victory in the Ashes. Bell was dismissed by Mitchell Johnson four times in his five innings in the series, and had scored 140 runs at an average of only 28, though with two half centuries.^[30]

2009/10 – South Africa and Bangladesh[link]

After a poor first Test for England which ended in a draw at Centurion, Bell, with scores of 5 and 2, Bell's place in the team was under fire. England Team Director Andy Flower gave Bell a vote of confidence^[31] and the response from Bell was his first Test match century since his 199 vs South Africa in July 2008. In the second Test at Durban, Bell scored 141 runs in the first innings to hush his critics – prior to this innings his Test batting average had fallen to 38.9.^[32] The final two tests were modest for Bell, who scored 166 runs in 4 innings at an average of 41.50. However, the series marked the beginning of a period of substantial batting achievement for Bell. Less than two years later his average would stand at 49.29;^[32] the figure at right shows that over the same period his ten innings moving average rose from 32 to 119 runs.

On the tour of Bangladesh, Bell scored a quick and confident 84 off 105 balls in England's first innings of the first Test at Chittagong, and scored 39 not out in the second innings. By batting lower down the order, typically at 6, Bell has seen his scores improve and he has scored five of his ten Test centuries whilst batting at 6. In the second test at Mirpur, with England struggling for momentum on 107–3, Bell came to the crease at number 5 making crucial partnerships with Jonathan Trott (67 run partnership), Matt Prior (98 run partnership) and a 143-run stand with Tim Bresnan for the 6th wicket on his way towards his 10th Test match century, finally being dismissed for 138. During his century, Bell's average against Bangladesh touched 488, the highest any batsman has had against a particular country in the history of Test cricket.^[33]

2010 – Bangladesh and injury absence[link]

Bell featured in the home Test series with Bangladesh at the start of the season, scoring a century in the second Test. However, a broken metatarsal sustained in the subsequent one-day series ruled him out of the summer's main series against Pakistan. He did return to action for his county Warwickshire towards the end of the season, scoring a match-winning century as acting captain in the CB40 final against Somerset.

2010/11 – Ashes in Australia[link]

Ian Bell fielding during a Test against Sri Lanka in 2011

By the time the Ashes came around, Bell had a regular place at No. 6 in the team. Throughout the series there were talks of a possible leap up the order, in front of an out-of-form Paul Collingwood. He started off the series well, and progressed throughout the series with many elegant drives, cuts and pulls. However it was not until the 5th Test in Sydney that he could score his first Ashes century after eleven 50s. Bell was one of England's finest with the bat, and helped to contribute to a 3–1 series victory, England's first in Australia since Gatting's men in 1986/87.

2011 – ICC Cricket World Cup[link]

In the February and March Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka hosted the 2011 World Cup. In England's first match they successfully chased a high total by Netherlands, with Bell contributing 33 runs. Next England played India, put up a challenging total of 338. Bell and his captain Strauss set about consolidating England's position, while Bell survived a lbw decision off the bowling of left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh. Opposition captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni asked for a review. TV replays and Hawk-Eye showed that Bell was indeed plumb. However, since there was a rule wherein the on-field umpire (Billy Bowden here) can have the final decision if the batsman was 2.5 metres forward from the stumps, the umpire stood by his 'not out' decision. Bell went on to make 69 runs and almost helped England win comfortably. This match eventually ended in a tie.

2011 – India[link]

During the 2011 summer, Bell was an integral part of the team that inflicted a 4 - 0 Test whitewash over the Indian cricket team, helping England to become the number 1 team in the world for the first time since the ICC ranking came in to existence. Bell was involved in a controversial run out during the series. Believing the ball to be dead after reaching the boundary, Bell left the middle to head in for tea, however the ball had not actually crossed the boundary and was promptly thrown in by the fielder and the bails taken off. Initially given out, the Indians retracted their appeal at tea and Bell returned to carry on his innings straight after. Bell scored his first double ton in the series, a test best of 235.

Statistics[link]

Test statistics[link]

Test centuries

Ian Bell's Test Centuries
	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year
[1]	162*	3	Bangladesh	Chester-le-Street, England	Riverside Ground	2005
[2]	115	10	Pakistan	Faisalabad, Pakistan	Iqbal Stadium	2005
[3]	100*	15	Pakistan	London, England	Lord's	2006
[4]	106*	16	Pakistan	Manchester, England	Old Trafford	2006
[5]	119	17	Pakistan	Leeds, England	Headingley Stadium	2006
[6]	109*	24	West Indies	London, England	Lord's	2007
[7]	110	36	New Zealand	Napier, New Zealand	McLean Park	2008
[8]	199	40	South Africa	London, England	Lord's	2008
[9]	140	51	South Africa	Durban, South Africa	Sahara Stadium Kingsmead	2009
[10]	138	55	Bangladesh	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium	2010
[11]	128	57	Bangladesh	Manchester, England	Old Trafford	2010
[12]	115	61	Australia	Sydney, Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground	2011
[13]	103*	62	Sri Lanka	Cardiff, Wales	SWALEC Stadium	2011
[14]	119*	64	Sri Lanka	Southampton, England	The Rose Bowl	2011
[15]	159	66	India	Nottingham, England	Trent Bridge	2011
[16]	235	68	India	London, England	The Oval	2011