Ian Bell believes that Warwickshire have the strong team mentality which is essential to bring success in the fiercely competitive arena of county cricket.
Bell’s Bears climbed to the top of the Specsavers County Championship Division One yesterday when they completed a ten-wicket victory inside three-days over Surrey at Guildford.
It was a powerful display from Warwickshire with both bat and ball – the sort of combative collective effort of which championship title-bids can be constructed.
I feel very lucky that we have a very talented set of cricketers but also a great bunch of blokes
Ian Bell
With the First Division table so congested this season, the title race promises to be an engrossingly tight one, highly likely to go right down to the last round of games. Warwickshire aim to remain involved in that race.
And Bell believes the Bears possess, as well as the necessary individual qualities, the solid team ethos required during a gruelling campaign which will inevitably bring times when the team is up against it on the field.
“I feel very lucky that we have a very talented set of cricketers but also a great bunch of blokes,” said the captain. “During a long season you need to know that you are playing with your mates and your mates will back to 110 per cent, so that when things get tough you will be backed.
“I have played in Warwickshire teams that have had that spirit and that haven’t had it and I’ve played in England teams that have had it and haven’t had it.
“In the best England teams and the best Warwickshire teams I have played in, it was never about individual performances. They don’t necessarily win matches and championships. It is a collective effort from 14, 15, 16 players which wins championships at the end of the season.
“Yes, scoring hundreds and taking wickets are important of course, but it’s often the performances in support that that get the results. That’s been the way of it at Edgbaston for a long time now with that fighting spirit which comes from people who are really proud to play for Warwickshire.
We haven’t played our best yet, but we are scrapping and becoming tougher as a group
Ian Bell
“There is no question the talent is here but we also have a team proud of playing for Warwickshire. That’s so important because we want the academy lads coming through to see this is a special place.”
The Bears’ season is certainly bubbling up nicely, well-placed in both Specsavers County Championship and NatWestT20Blast and with their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign still well alive.
“It was a pleasing performance at Guildford because in the championship so far we haven’t nailed our best cricket consistently yet,” Bell said. “But the difference between Divs One and Two now is huge and there are no easy game in the top division. This is the toughest year the guys can remember in the championship.
“We haven’t played our best yet, but we are scrapping and becoming tougher as a group. We are building something good here.”
