Bell burnishes Lord's with a golden hue

B & H Cup final: Warwickshire's tiro batsman adds much-need lustre to the occasion and drops a hint to Hussain

It would be immensely difficult for Ian Bell to state a greater case for selection by England. Before 20,000 spectators here yesterday in the Benson and Hedges Cup final he made an unbeaten 65 which guided his side inexorably to victory.

It was a small masterpiece of timing, shot selection, technique and temperament. Since one of the closer observers was Nasser Hussain, England captain, selector and Essex player, he could hardly have presented more pukka credentials.

It was the final final and, sad to say, it was something of a fag end. Essex simply did not do themselves justice with either bat or ball, Warwickshire were efficient where it mattered. Sometimes they were better than that, and they won with 13.4 overs to spare.

At no time was the match in better shape than when Bell was at the crease with Jim Troughton. Warwickshire had fallen to 21 for 2 in pursuit of Essex's insipid total of 181. Batsmen with a combined age of 43 might have been a little circumspect in fashioning the reconstruction. No such thing.

The both went merrily for their shots. Troughton was the more unorthodox, Bell the better organised. It was a shame when Troughton was out because you could have watched them both until the end. But it made little difference, the damage had been done in 72 balls which had brought 84 runs. Bell was never in any danger.

Performing on this sort of stage as he did makes his omission by England early in the season a mystery. He was not ready, it was said. In the quarter-finals of this competition he made an unbeaten 85 on a wet Hove pitch after his side were 8 for 3. Now this. He may not be ready now but it will not be long. Say next week.

Indisputably, the start of Essex's downfall was of their own making. What a messy piece of architecture it was after they had managed, it appeared, to overcome the loss of Nasser Hussain to the second ball of the match. Hussain has been the most successful one-day batsman in English domestic cricket this season with 433 runs at an average of 109.75, a rather neat riposte to those legions who have suggested that the England captain's batting has short- comings in the shorter game. But then he had not faced Shaun Pollock.

The religious South African may believe in God, but not in looseners or sighters. The first ball was right on the spot and Hussain probably knew he was in a contest. The second was bang on the button and Hussain was gone, forced into playing it as it did just enough to take the edge of his bat.

But by the end of that over Hussain's replacement, the tyro Graham Napier, had smote Pollock over midwicket and into the Grandstand for six. It was some shot, not only because it was just short enough to pull but because Napier had been beaten twice in the over and might have been unnerved.

Napier and Darren Robinson cut a dash in restoring fortunes thereafter. If they were not dominant they were busy, forceful and acquisitive. They had reached 31 in the eighth over when they ran two from a Napier shot to deep mid-wicket. Napier set off for the third but was sent back. He returned to his ground without urgency but that also went for Troughton's return throw. Wicketkeeper Keith Piper seemed to go for it, then returned to behind the stumps. The ball hit them and rebounded. Even then Warwickshire seemed keener on retrieving it than appealing.

But somebody must have asked the question because the television replay had been called for. Napier was on his way. On such small, bizarre incidents can whole innings and matches – even the ultimate B&H Cup final – turn. In came John Stephenson, veteran, former England opener, who has barely made a run for years and was about to continue the sequence.

He jabbed at his first ball without moving his feet and chopped on. Robinson soon essayed an inadvisable pull and Irani, England's new old boy, got too far under one of his expansive drives. That was 61 for 5 and there was no way back.

Any talk of dodgy pitches should have been swiftly prohibited. It was keen bowling and indifferent batting. In the circumstances, Essex did well to make it as far as they did. After they had stumbled to 134 for 8 with an air of resignation Paul Grayson and Ashley Cowan shared an unbroken stand of 47 from the final eight overs. Grayson was cautious, Cowan more cavalier. It took Essex to a kind of respectability, but that does not often win one-day matches. So it was to prove. Essex made some early inroads, as they had to, and some later ones – also essential.

In their initial flurry, Michael Powell drove at a wideish one from Cowan, which held its own, and was caught behind, and Nick Knight edged one from Irani going across him. The second brief burst brought the wickets of Shaun Pollock, who mistimed his drive to long-off, and Trevor Penney, who might have been a shade unlucky to be given leg before. Then again he might not have been.

In between there was Bell, and albeit more briefly, Troughton. They have contrasting styles. Bell seems to tailor his shots to the ball as it is delivered, Troughton appears to be thinking of something daring to do as they are running up. But how they rattled merrily along.

Troughton's first three scoring shots were consecutive fours off Irani, Bell was less flamboyant but equally aggressive. They were not merely taking the match away from Essex, they were making it look easy. How it lifted the afternoon to see a 20-year-old and a 23-year-old play with such freedom.

It was a shame that Troughton had to go. He was fearless in departure, naturally, having a go at something wide outside off. He will go down like this often, but you will want him to succeed.

Bell never looked in any danger. Warwickshire had won the cup for the second and last time.