Bell revels in return to the top

Two months ago, Ian Bell found himself in one-day cricket limbo. Moved down to No.3 against India in August, he was then dropped from England's ODI side entirely during the series in Sri Lanka. With a World Cup around the new year's corner, it was far from the ideal time to be on the outer. But then came the sacking of Alastair Cook, and an opening partner for Moeen Ali was required.

Bell was given the chance to return to the top under Eoin Morgan's leadership for the two warm-up matches in Canberra ahead of the tri-series in Australia, and 187 against the Prime Minister's XI more than justified the faith of the new captain. An unbeaten 88 followed in the victory over India in Brisbane on Tuesday, and Bell said it was pleasing to be thriving back in a familiar position.

"When I spoke to Morgs when we got out here and he said 'I want you to open', that was a massive confidence boost for me," Bell said. "Looking back, certainly in my time playing one-day cricket for England, my most successful time has been opening the batting. It was nice to start this tour how I wanted to.

"Opening the batting, those first 10 overs definitely suits my game, certainly in these conditions where there's more bounce, you can play off the back foot, front foot, hit over the fielders in that first 10. It suits my game well and I've tried to work hard."

There was one hiccup, though, when Bell was lbw to Mitchell Starc first ball in the series opener in Sydney last Friday, when the left-armer hooped the new white ball in to Bell's pads. Bell will face the Australians again on Friday in Hobart and he hopes he can balance the ledger after their outstanding bowling at the SCG.

"It wasn't enough time lose form, that's for sure," Bell said of his golden duck. "It was frustrating because you want to start the series well. The important thing for all of us was we wanted to play well against Australia. Credit to Australia those first 10 overs were world-class and we have to start well in this game. It would be nice to do it against Australia tomorrow and then kick off from there."

The comprehensive victory against India has given England a strong chance of reaching the tri-series final. With the World Cup to begin in just over three weeks, any winning momentum they can carry with them is important.

"I think as a group we're all excited with the challenges we have over the next 12 to 18 months," Bell said. "There are some amazing opportunities to win some big series and big trophies. That's where you want to be as an England cricketer. To leave someone like Halesy out, in a way it shows we're in a good place as a squad. We've got 15 guys here who could easily get into that XI."