Warwickshire great Ian Bell is set for an England return at Edgbaston after signing to play in the World Championship of Legends (WCL) tournament this summer.
Bell – who played 287 times for England in all formats – made his last Test appearance at his home ground during the victorious 2015 Ashes series.
But the 42-year-old will again stride out in an England shirt at Edgbaston after becoming the latest legend to commit to the 3-13 July competition.
Tickets are now on sale for the World Championship of Legends which starts on Wednesday 3 July in an Edgbaston T20 double header of England v India and Australia v Pakistan.
Bell will line-up alongside Kevin Pieterson and Ravi Bopara amongst other former stars of England international cricket.
And they’re are set to face the likes of Australia’s Brett Lee, West Indies’ Chris Gayle, Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, and Pakistan’s “Boom Boom” Shahid Afridi in the first Legends competition of its kind.
“It’s been a while since I’ve played for England at Edgbaston,” said Bell. “There’s nothing quite like the buzz of playing for your country at your home ground so to do it again will be very special. There’s no better place to play than Edgbaston, the atmosphere is terrific.
“There are some big names already committed to the competition – guys who pushed the boundaries during their playing days – so I’m looking forward to the challenge.
“It’ll be good fun but, make no mistake, we’ll all want to win. It’ll be a proper competition.”
Another former Bear taking part in the WCL is South African Imran Tahir whose five-fer at Lord’s in 2010 helped Warwickshire win the Clydesdale Bank 40 title in 2010.
The brand-new competition will see legends teams from England, India, Pakistan, Australia, West Indies and South Africa compete in games across 10 days.
Edgbaston will host five double-header match days from Wednesday 3 July, with the final on Saturday 13 July. Matches will include India v Pakistan and England v Australia, both taking place on Saturday 6 July, with games starting at 1pm and 5pm each day.
Tickets will go on sale at wcl.edgbaston.com from 10am on Monday with adult prices starting from under £10 and under 16s £4.
Save 20% with Early Bird tickets
Tickets are on sale now for all World Championship of Legends fixtures at Edgbaston, taking place this July.
Prices start from just £9.60 for adults in this Early Bird window (offering a saving of 20%), while under 16s are £4.
