England captain Strauss hails 'versatile' Ian Bell
England captain Andrew Strauss has praised Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell after England's six-wicket victory over Bangladesh at Trent Bridge - and admitted he now has a selection problem.
Bell, playing his first ODI since November 2008 in place of the injured Kevin Pietersen, saw England past their target of 251 with a measured 84 not out.
Strauss said: "The great thing with Belly is he can pretty much bat anywhere in the order; he's a pretty versatile cricketer."
Assessing the 28-year-old's performance in a position he is unlikely to retain upon Pietersen's return, Strauss added: "When you see him play innings like this, the top of the order seems like the more logical place for him to play but he plays the spinners well too so to come in lower down is not an issue.
"That's part of the reason why he has forced his way back into the squad. He is adaptable and he's playing in a more aggressive manner now that puts opposition players under pressure."
Bell has actively worked on advancing his limited-overs game with Warwickshire and the England Lions since being omitted from the ODI set-up.
That work appears to be paying dividends now, but he accepts he has to keep improving to maintain the pressure on England's established one-day batsmen.
"I know where I am in this squad and I have to keep knocking on the door and working hard," he said. "But it was nice to have the opportunity to go out and score some runs.
"I guess we have a line-up that has been fantastic over the last 12-16 months and I've got to keep working hard to be around this squad."
