London: England batsman Ian Bell has announced that he will retire from all professional cricket at the end of the 2020 domestic season.
The 38-year-old, who debuted for England in 2004, scored 7727 runs, including 22 hundreds, at an average of 42.69 in 118 Test matches while in the ODIs, he has 5,416 runs in 161 matches. He also played 8 T20Is.
“It’s true when they say you know when the time’s right, and unfortunately, my time is now,” he said in a statement.
“While my hunger and enthusiasm for the sport that I love remain as strong as ever, my body simply can’t keep up with the demands of the game to the standard of which I expect of myself,” he added.
Bell enjoyed a span of 11 years as an England player, during which he won five Ashes series out of seven. He was the Player of the Series in the 2013 series, where he scored 562 runs at an average of 62.44.
The stylish batsman enjoyed a great run in ODI cricket too. With 5416 runs he was England’s leading run-getter in the format until current captain Eoin Morgan overtook him in 2018. Bell remains third on the list of England’s most prolific run-scorers in the fifty-over format.
The cricketer last featured for England in 2015, but has been an integral part of Warwickshire in county cricket.
This decision, interestingly, comes just a few months after Bell signed a year’s extension with Warwickshire which would’ve kept him at the club for the 2021 season.
He will play for Warwickshire in the final round of the Bob Willis Trophy, starting September 6 and will sign off playing their final T20 Blast fixture. (UNI)
