Cricket: Warwickshire's Bell Snub a Slap in the Face for Moores and England

I was trudging towards the Riverside car park at around seven o'clock on Tuesday evening when I heard the whopp, whopp, whopp of a helicopter above the field across the river and saw it rise above the trees, turn and head south.

Mindful of yesterday's Friends Provident Trophy semi-final between Hampshire and Warwickshire at the Rose Bowl, and wishing to do all they could to assist both counties in providing Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell in as rested a state as they could be after an intensive Test series, the England and Wales Cricket Board had hired the chopper to transport the duo to Hampshire.

Given that the cost of this exercise probably would have bought a first-class air ticket to New York, it was a generous gesture on the part of those who employ the pair, and one embraced as such by Hampshire. The response of Warwickshire, on the other hand, was just churlish - Ian Bell? Phooey. Who needs him? We are doing quite nicely without him, thank you very much - and in the event he was omitted and did not travel. And in the event, of course, Warwickshire did not win and in fact fell well short yesterday; these two facts may just be related.

For public consumption there was a bit of bluster about Bell not being sufficiently rested for a match of that importance (Pietersen has better recovery powers, apparently) but behind the scenes there has been talk of dressing-room rifts at Warwickshire, bad atmosphere and a general dissatisfaction, smacking of professional jealousy more than anything, that he could waltz back into the side.

Yet if they can field a better player than the fellow recognized recently by his international peers as the Emerging Player of the Year, then Peter Moores should be notified immediately, for he is missing a trick. Bell, it is fair to say, would be bemused by it, probably hurt by insinuation but despite the fact that the ECB was not shy in placing his "disappointment" in the public domain Bell will find it difficult, due to obvious constraints, to articulate his true feelings adequately.

Actually, before Team England and central contracts, counties conceded willingly that players would disappear to play international cricket but then expected them back immediately afterwards, and hang the travel and tiredness.

Personal experience made me revisit the summer of 1976, where the third Test at Old Trafford was followed next day by the second round of the Gillette Cup. All who played in the Test were involved, two of us returning to Old Trafford, three to Ilkeston, one each to Trent Bridge and Edgbaston - none of which were too taxing - but four of whom, Bob Woolmer, Alan Knott, Derek Underwood and Tony Greig, had to journey to Canterbury. Greig top-scored in the game (as did Woolmer for Kent) and was man of the match.

There is, of course, no imperative to play a man just because he is an international but that did not stop Durham from fielding Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison yesterday, as well as Liam Plunkett, or for Essex to play Alastair Cook. Why wouldn't you? What Warwickshire have done is to issue a slap in the face to Moores at a time when the new coach is making a huge effort to embrace the counties and claw back goodwill lost during Duncan Fletcher's time in charge.

As the former England coach's biographer, Steve James, points out to me, it was not totally unknown to release players for county matches but Fletcher was often hamstrung by clumsy scheduling. It was more a matter of communication. There is an air of inclusivity now (the selection and success of Ryan Sidebottom being an example) but Warwickshire, either through their captain, coach or chief executive, and perhaps all three, have succeeded in knocking that back.

Quite how the members and supporters of Warwickshire feel is another matter, and one which I hope received consideration. There is a strong argument for saying that a Lord's final is justification in itself. But for some years there has been an outcry in the shires that members were being deprived of the chance to watch the top players. Here was a chance to parade one of the better ones and it has been spurned. As for Bell himself, a most loyal Bear, were I him I'd be contemplating my future at a club for whom I was the youngest ever centurion. There is no point in hanging around if you are surplus to requirement.