Eoin Morgan backs Ian Bell to continue good form

Ian Bell

Sydney, Jan 15 (IANS) England's new skipper Eoin Morgan on Thursday backed batsman Ian Bell to continue his good form from the warm-ups ahead of the tri-series, involving Australia and India, and the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup.

Bell made 187 against the Prime Minister's XI, the highest score so far by an English batsman in a one-day game, as England completed their preparations ahead of the first game against Australia in the tri-series on Friday.

Morgan backed Bell to be a big influence on the side after restoring him to the top of the order following the Sri Lanka tour.

"Ian is one of our most experienced cricketers. He's a class act and has proved that over a very long period of time - particularly in Test match cricket.

"His experience over the next couple of months is going to be crucial in our success and so far he's looked in great touch and yesterday was a great example of that.

"He was ruthless in what he did, very professional and took advantage of conditions which is what we're looking for."

In comments carried by the ECB website, Morgan also took time to praise the squad of players he has at his disposal, and opined they could be well placed to surprise a few teams over the coming months.

"The priority for us is obviously winning games going forward. It would be nice to be sitting here at the end of the series with some silverware and be very confident of where we're going as a side and very confident of what our side is going to be," he said.

He also backed his players to continue with their positive approach to batting, saying: "I think the group of players need the trust and confidence within the group to go and play the way they do.

"We have a handful of free-spirited cricketers and Moeen (Ali) is one of them and in order to have a successful campaign out here I think it's crucial we have guys comfortable and confident enough to play their own game."