England batsman Ian Bell has insisted he is determined to carry on in international cricket following talks with coach Trevor Bayliss and captain Alastair Cook. In the immediate aftermath of England's Test series victory over Australia, five-times Ashes-winner Bell told BBC Radio he would "take stock" of his future. That led to suggestions the 33-year-old Warwickshire batsman was contemplating calling time on a 115-Test career that has yielded 22 hundreds in a tally of 7,569 runs.
But Bell, writing in his Metro column published on Friday, said: "At the end of every Ashes series you're left physically and mentally drained and, as I said to Jonathan Agnew as the celebrations began at The Oval, I needed a bit of time to consider what the future holds. "I spoke with coach Trevor Bayliss and Alastair Cook after the Oval loss, we had a really good talk and I was as honest as I could be.
"Deep down, though, I think I probably knew I wasn't ready to call time on my England Test career. "I still have that hunger and desire." Bell was not at his best during England's recent 3-2 Ashes series win, apart from two fifties in the third Test at his Edgbaston home ground, and averaged a mere 26.87 in nine innings. Cook, speaking after the Ashes, was adamant he wanted the experienced Bell in England's squad for tough upcoming series away to Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates and in South Africa.