http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 hails Ian Bell at the top – Cricket News Update
England’s One Day International skipper, Alastair Cook, on Sunday hailed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/IR-Bell-c1597 for his successful return at the top of the order and said that the hard-hitting top-order batsman is benefiting from the hard work he has been doing in the nets of late.
"Ian is class. He is showing it at the top, and he is hard to bowl at because he can score at 360 degrees," said Cook.
"He has been outstanding over the last couple of years. He works so hard and is always the first one in the nets and is getting the just rewards for that."
Since being promoted to the top of the order after Kevin Pietersen’s retirement from limited-overs cricket in May, Ian Bell has been outstanding. Saturday’s 69 against Australia at Riverside was Bell’s third half century in his last five ODI innings, including
a century against West Indies at Southampton. Overall he has scored 364 runs in the last five One Day Internationals, two against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, at an average of 72.80.
Cook, the 27-year-old Gloucester-born left-handed opener, was happy with the way his batsmen have stepped up to fill the void left by Pietersen’s bizarre retirement earlier this year.
"We have had to move on from Kev. Clearly he is a world-class player who is missed, but we have all moved on as a side,” said Cook, after his side sealed an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series against Australia with an eight-wicket win at Chester-le-Street,
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Durham-c782, on Saturday.
"People have had to step up to different roles. They have to shoulder that responsibility, and the lads have done that well," he added further.
Saturday’s eight-wicket win over Australia was England’s ninth ODI victory in a row this year. Earlier they whitewashed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 in February this year, before handing West Indies a 2-0 series defeat in a
three-ODI series, with the third game washed out.
The fifth and final One Day International of the series gets underway at Old Trafford, Manchester, on Tuesday, July 10, 2012.
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