Bell wants aggressive response by England

'People would rather see us be aggressive and lose instead of be timid and come away with nothing', says Bell

Ian Bell moved to No 3 in the one-day side at the end of the summer and is happy to play there against Sri Lanka (Getty)

England arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday.

It was raining. It frequently rains in Colombo at this time of year. Seven one-day internationals are scheduled for this tour, deemed to be crucial if only for England’s team bonding before the World Cup, but the reason for the excessive number may also be connected to a suspicion that several may be incomplete.

On arrival, the squad of 15 almost to a man took to the gym, as is the way with the modern cricketer. If the seasonal monsoon persists in the south-west when the real business starts, their bonding may be done there – and doubtlessly on a series of computer games.

There is a long and worrying history of weather-ravaged matches in the country late in the year. Of 11 scheduled in November and December since 1992 there have been four no results and six others in which the overs have been reduced. But the administrators might just get away with it.

Five of the septet are in December when this monsoon period starts to ease. Both sides need to play as much as possible. England, who do not necessarily have a squad likely to thrive in Asia, must find their preferred team quickly, a side that might or might not win this series but could conceivably do well in the World Cup, to be played in Australia and New Zealand in February and March, which is another cricketing planet.

Sri Lanka have just arrived back home after a dreadful hammering in India, where they lost all five of the one-dayers. While they could hardly blame the unfamiliarity of the conditions, that the trip was hastily cobbled together, after the West Indies tour of India was abandoned because of a players’ strike, provided a fairly reasonable excuse. Sri Lanka were simply not ready –and never looked as though they were. But they will be desperate to regroup as quickly as possible and bound to be feeling slightly vulnerable.

England have plenty to ponder both about the balance and composition of the side, not least in the batting order. Only the openers, the captain Alastair Cook and Alex Hales, and the No 4, Joe Root, can be named with any certainty. Cook and Hales were inaugurated as the first-wicket pair only in August and it would be astonishing if England did not retain faith in them until the World Cup. Cook needs runs quickly, Hales has to be allowed time to fail. He has played only four ODIs, a selectorial oversight which might cost England dear.

There was a perhaps understandable desire to retain the partnership of Cook and Ian Bell, which had undoubtedly had its moments but had been overtaken by other more forceful and energised batting in the one-day game elsewhere. It leaves the No 3 berth as the topic of heavy speculation.

The likelihood is that Bell will fill it. He is now England’s second leading runscorer in one-day cricket, behind Paul Collingwood, and since he is in the squad such an obviously accomplished performer has to play – although that logic did not apply in the World Twenty20 earlier this year.

“Hopefully, I still see myself batting at No 3, where I guess I was moved to at the end of the summer,” Bell said. “I have always said I will bat wherever I am asked. I love opening the batting but three is not much different and I just have to go and do it.

“I have to use the skills I’ve got to be able to put the ball through the infield and over the top off as many balls as I can and play with some energy and be able to do that over the winter.”

England have used six different players at No 3 this year, none of whom has been a raging success. After a break of two months, the squad appear to have put behind them the two one-day series losses at home this summer. However, they do not at present have many supporters for their contention that they can lift the World Cup.

“I think people would rather see us be aggressive and lose instead of be timid and come away with nothing,” said Bell.

“Everyone’s mindset is to play aggressively. We just have to be ready to be adaptable on different surfaces, where there will be all sorts of different par scores.

“I know a lot of people have written us off, but it is not a bad place to be. I’ve been in Ashes series where we’ve been written off and come out on top. It is about what we believe is possible and if we don’t believe it then no one else will.”

Rainy Colombo may tell part of the story.

Ian Bell was speaking at the launch of a new partnership between Royal London and the PCA Benevolent Fund