Injury Blow For Ian Bell, Ruled Out For http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Tests
An official statement released from England camp confirmed that Ian Bell has fractured the fifth metatarsal in his foot and will not feature in England’s upcoming Test series against Pakistan. "Ian underwent a routine operation last night on the fractured metatarsal in his left foot," said the ECB's chief medical officer, Nick Peirce.
"He will now undergo a course of rehabilitation that will see him ruled out of the upcoming Pakistan Test series. We expect Ian to make a full recovery but his participation in the NatWest Series against Pakistan in September will be reviewed in due course once he has made significant progress with his rehabilitation programme.”
Bell sustained the injury when he dove for the ball in the tenth over of Bangladesh’s innings; the dive went horribly wrong as he twisted his foot on the landing. After that over, he limped off the field and was taken to the hospital. After assessment, he returned to the match.
“I went up for a catch and felt pain as soon as I landed; I knew straight away I'd done something serious. This is obviously extremely disappointing for me. I had worked very hard to get back into the England squad and had felt in good touch. As a professional sportsman I accept injuries happen and it is now up to me to work closely with the ECB medical staff and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Warwickshire-c862 on a rehab programme that will get me back playing as soon as possible.”
Despite being injured and told by the doctors that he should not participate in what was left of the match, Bell joined Jonathan Trott to bat. It was up to Trott and Bell to score the ten runs in the last over and win them the match against Bangladesh. Bell did not have to bat after all, as England lost, only six runs short.
But the brave display by Bell earned him praise by his coach Andy Flower and the opposition. Injured cricketers, especially batsmen are not common sight in Test cricket, and the fact that Bell chose to continue in a one day match speaks volumes for his level of commitment to the team.
The injury has come at a very bad time for Ian Bell, who had recently made his come back to Test cricket; he spent the last six months cementing his place in the Test squad. He had almost been dropped against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 in the second Test match at Dhaka and then continued his good form at Old Trafford earlier this year. He has been known to exhibit match winning performances, and he did exactly that with his performance two days before his suffered the injury, scoring 78 runs and earning the Man of the Match award.
Bell’s absence comes as a huge blow to the Test side; he will now have to be replaced with Eoin Morgan, who was set to feature after the two games against Bangladesh. The selectors will now experiment with a five man bowling attack and hope England find their form in time for the much awaited Ashes.
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