Ian Bell Philosophical in Defeat

Ian Bell Philosophical in Defeat

After the Birmingham Bears were beaten off the last ball of the game by the Northants Steelbacks, Bears skipper Ian Bell spoke to Deep Extra Cover‘s Terry Wright.

How crucial was the loss of Rikki Clarke to a hand injury whilst batting?

“He’s a fine top of the order bowler for us. But I thought we scrapped well in the field without him. The truth is, we were probably 20 runs short.

“170 or so would have been a good score and we were on for that at one stage.”

Was it a good pitch for batting?

“Yes, though the ball did hold in the pitch a bit, especially for the spinners on both sides. We were surprised in that we didn’t think it was going to spin.

“That’s why we brought in Aaron Thomason to add a bit of hitting power, which he did. But we may look to play an extra spinner on Sunday (against Leicestershire).”

What about the wickets the Bears lost to easy outfield catches?

“You get caught one day, you hit a six the next: that’s T20. It’s the way we want the team to play. It’s also how Northants have got where they have.

“We’ve played some good cricket so far and so now we are looking forward to Sunday, to get back on it.”

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