‘I wanted the rollercoaster of being emotionally invested’: Ian Bell on coaching, England and the 2005 Ashes WhatsApp

Five-times Ashes winner has since had a varied coaching career and believes the red ball is still fundamental to the modern player

It’s a sunny spring afternoon, a new season looms, and just a short stroll down the road from Knowle & Dorridge Cricket Club, Ian Bell is in his local stressing the importance of County Championship runs. One of the purest Test batters England has produced this century, Bell is also about to fly to the Indian Premier League for a spell of coaching.

Not that the two are necessarily a contradiction. Bell is excited to be joining Delhi Capitals as their new assistant coach before the IPL that starts on Saturday – a significant opportunity in his second career. But as much as T20 has transformed the sport, Bell insists that time batting against the red ball is still fundamental to the modern player.