Bell to Make Way for Flintoff

Shortly after lunch yesterday two England cricketers were tussling in their different ways for the spectators' affections. Out in the middle Ian Bell was inching towards a half-century with angelic anonymity. Behind him in the Nursery Ground nets the bullocking Andrew Flintoff was continuing his ankle rehab by giving a couple of MCC groundstaffers a going-over, first with ball then with bat. It was touch and go as to who had drawn the bigger crowd.

This said something about the pulling powers of two cricketers who make chalk and cheese look like bedmates, and everything about the harsh realities of the international game. While Bell is simply keeping the No6 spot warm until Flintoff returns, probably for the second Test at Old Trafford in 12 days' time, Flintoff is straining at the leash to resume his role as England's captain and beating heart.

The harsh truth is Bell could probably have doubled his unbeaten 100 and still not made the XI for Manchester. That did not quite render this the most futile century in the history of Test cricket - the innings at least maintained Bell's position in the queue and kept the bashers at bay - but the post-lunch mob had spoken. Flintoff cannot return quickly enough.

On yesterday's evidence Old Trafford remains a realistic goal, although a more rigorous test will come on Tuesday when Lancashire embark on a four-day match against Kent at Canterbury - a fixture that means he will a miss a joint benefit dinner with the club groundsman Peter Marron.

Now, watched by England's bowling coach Kevin Shine, their chief medical officer Peter Gregory and his county physio Dave Roberts Flintoff bowled the equivalent of six overs, in which he made his two young victims wince and flinch with reassuring regularity. He then received a five-minute ankle massage from Roberts before padding up and unleashing a succession of crackling straight-drives.

"It was my best workout yet, and I'm not creaking or anything," said Flintoff, who had previously been limited to five overs in two Twenty20 matches and will net with his England team-mates before play this morning. "I wasn't bowling at full pelt. I've still got something else to give.

"I had two tough days last week running up and down hills at Rivington Pike but it has all been building up towards bowling and playing at Canterbury. "

If his bowling was encouragingly full of fire and brimstone his batting was more eye-catching than the fare on the other side of the media centre. Bell had actually begun in a flurry, racing to 21 in 13 deliveries against the second new ball but the foot came off the pedal after that and the rest of the afternoon felt like a quiet Sunday drive through the country.

By the time Flintoff was drawing the crowds Bell was grinding to a halt. He emerged after lunch on 43 and reached his half-century an hour later. Since Paul Collingwood had not exactly pressed on after the break either the spectators who did bother to show had plenty of time to contemplate the merits of a batsman who now averages over 68 in seven innings against Pakistan.

The trouble is that Bell's main successes have come, for England fans at least, in the early hours in Pakistan and were watched only by those who own satellite dishes. His most notable failures came against Australia when even non-cricket fans managed to stay awake. First impressions last and it will need more than a generous reading of the stats to convince everyone he is Test material.

Still, you can hardly criticise a player for hitting a hundred and there was a sense of catharsis about the single wide of mid-on that moved him to three figures with only Monty Panesar for company. His reward is the prospect of becoming the first England batsman since Graeme Hick in 1998 to be dropped the Test after hitting a hundred. The two men share a certain diffidence. Bell must hope that is where the similarities end.