ECB set to confirm Ian Bell as England's U19 World Cup batting coach
England and Wales Cricket Board are set to confirm Ian Bell as England's batting coach for the 2020 U19 World Cup. While Bell missed the entire 2019 season due to injury, he plans to continue his playing career in 2020 and has beaten several more established coaching candidates to the role.
The next edition of the U19 World Cup, featuring 16 sides and ODI playing regulations, will be staged in South Africa in January and February and England, who, in the wake of their new ODI revolution, are priming themselves to set the stage on fire. The team had finished a disappointing seventh in the previous tournament played in New Zealand in 2018 while Prithvi Shaw-led India won the trophy after beating Australia in the final.Â
Now, as per a report in ESPN Cricinfo, Bell, who missed the entire 2019 season due to injury, plans to continue his playing career in 2020 and has beaten several more established coaching candidates to the role. Although he wants to come back for the coming season as a county player, it is to be noted that he will be 38 in April and will be out of contract at Warwickshire at the end of the 2020 season.
This was the first season since 2000 that Bell didn't play any part in Warwickshire's county season after sustaining a foot injury during the Pakistan Super League in February and was ruined by a tendon issue in his left knee. Now, he looks forward to the coaching career that will be underway when he replaces John Lewis as the coach of the English Colts.