Ian Bell steps down as captain of Warwickshire from all the formats

Former England batsman Ian Bell has decided to step down from the captaincy role of his County side Warwickshire from all the formats. Bell’s decision came after being dropped from the T20 side for the NatWest T20 Blast as the 35-year-old now wants to focus on his batting now ahead of the remaining County Championship matches in this season with his side looking to avoid a relegation to Division 2.

Bell managed to score only 79 runs in his last eight T20 Blast innings after scoring 75*, 47 and 50 in first three outings which prompted the management to take a call over his position ahead of the knockout stages. His numbers in County Championship aren’t good either as the right-handed batsman scored only 345 runs in the 8 matches at an average of 24.64 with 3 fifties.

“It’s been an absolute honour to lead my home county over the last 18 months and my decision to stand down is something that I have thought long and hard about over a period of weeks,” said Ian Bell about his decision to quit captaincy.

“This is the right time for me to stand down as captain, to focus on my batting and scoring runs, which will be the best thing for the team. As a senior player, I will support the team in all ways possible and I believe that our squad has very exciting times ahead,” Bell was quoted as saying on Warwickshire Cricket’s website.

Ashley Giles, the Sport Director at Warwickshire Country Cricket Club says that they have spoken to Bell regularly and have taken a decision based on their crucial matches coming up.

“Ian and I have spoken regularly throughout the season and he made the decision to stand down as skipper following our Specsavers County Championship win over Middlesex two weeks ago,” said Ashley Giles.

“It’s very brave of Ian to make this decision, but one that we fully respect. Having him focused solely on scoring runs for Warwickshire and Birmingham Bears is a huge asset to the club as we bid to reach a third Finals Day in four years and aim to build on our Championship victory at Lord’s.” he added.

Warwickshire, who made it to the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast, will be led by Grant Elliot while another former England cricketer Jonathan Trott will serve as the captain for the remaining five County Championship matches in this season.