Talk:Ian Bell

Comment
What ever anyone says i bloody lov ian bell he's my complete cricketing idol i get da mikey taken out of me because of it but i always keep faith and it will show the people that laughed at me. Jack Ashton.

yeah, i'd hardly call getting a shoddy decision and being the second highest scorer in the second innings a failure. some explanation of what he actually failed at might be useful?


 * Um...I'm not quite sure what you refer to, but the word "failure" appears twice in the text. First "in the first two matches", where he scored about 40 runs in four innings from memory, and the second despite failing against Australia. This failing is explained in the paragraph above However, he only scored six runs in four innings in the fourth and fifth Tests, leaving him with a batting average for the series of only 17.10, by far the lowest of the English batsmen. Sam Vimes 22:10, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

but he didnt fail at edgbaston.

Sherminator
This bit about Bell being called "The Sherminator" bothers me. I'm not sure it's relevant, and also I don't think it's a nickname, I think it's just derogatory name calling. I don't wish to keep reverting it, but it keeps being put back in. Besides, he doesn't even look that much like him. KingStrato 19:54, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * To my mind it certainly shouldn't stand without a very good cite. Even if Warne does in fact call him that I would still have reservations as to it being encyclopedic. --LiamE 01:06, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I've removed it - we shouldn't document every sledge or rude insults ever said - else, Wikipedia turns into a tabloid toilet. Or else we could list every Shane Warne affair for instance, or in India, where cricketers enjoy many "fringe benefits" from super-stardom and are repeatedly linked to glamourous Bollywood actresses etc. Blnguyen (bananabucket) 05:07, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * It could be argued that it provides a well rounded perspective on the subject (Bell). This exchange is something that has taken place whilst he is doing what he is known for - batting in a game of cricket. I think your argument comparing it to Warne's OFF field activities or Indian OFF field activities is a bit weak. It took place on the cricket field and it could be argued that the exchanges had an impact on the game (and series), just like a particular spell of bowling or passage of an innings. It wasn't like Warne SMS'd it to him after hours. Dave 06:06, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't see how it is a well-rounded perspective at all. It is simply an insult used by an opponent. We could note that Cullinan claimed that Warne is fat, what use it that? or that many users have used offensive insults against opponents - I feel that this is useless and is not his nickname. Blnguyen (bananabucket) 06:20, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * It is hardly offensive or an insult - but whatever - if you can't see that, then that is your problem. Have it your way.Dave 23:21, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Surely the point of an article about a cricketer is to concentrate on his playing achievements for the benefit of the readers and not to indulge infantile name-calling incidents. As for "well rounded perspective", I think it is a sense of perspective that is called for. --BlackJack | talk page 00:35, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Charity patron?
I was wondering whether anyone knows whether what i have to say is true or merely a hoax. Basically, i remember reading the wikipedia article about Belly a while back and it mentioned that he was a patron for a charity for men who only have one testicle, as Bell too only had one testicle. It has since disappeared, so i presume it may have been someone havin a cheap laugh, but if anyone has certain information then it would be very useful. User:Trigg travers 22:24, 22 March 2008 GMT

"Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice?"
I've seen Bell nicknamed this in several places now (most recently today's Cricinfo text commentary) but have no idea where it comes from. Anyone know? 195.194.238.103 (talk) 12:03, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I believe its a nickname from Andy Zaltzman Ts4079 (talk) 11:57, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

It’s a nickname he’s now frequently referred to whenever he comes up on BBC commentary now. It seems his second most prominent nickname after Belly. There was an external reference to cric-info attached to the nickname before it was removed one of the times the name has been deleted by overzealous editors. OffiMcSpin (talk) 22:11, 12 February 2021 (UTC)

Average of 303?!?
The article states that Before the first Test at Lord's, Bell's test average was 303, the fifth highest average at any point of a player's career of all time. How can this possibly be true when Bell's highest score is 199? I think this could be clarified, since clearly we're talking about something other than the usual 'batting average' statistic here. NotFromUtrecht (talk) 11:11, 25 July 2011 (UTC)
 * His average of 303 is a normal batting average but it isn't technically accurately worded. Averages for cricketers are calculated by taking the total number of runs scored divided by the number of times they are out.  In his first three tests Bell score 70, 65 not out and 162 not out.  This is a total of 297 runs for only being out once.  Therefore his average is (70 + 65 + 162) / 1 = 297 before the first Test at Lord's.  In the first innings of the first Test he scored 6 so just before he was out he averaged (70 + 65 + 162 + 6) / 1 = 303.  After his dismissal he averaged (70 + 65 + 162 + 6) / 2 = 151.5.  I will reword that sentence to reflect this.  KingStrato (talk) 16:16, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

High score
Let's get his 235 against India into the article then. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.219.26.115 (talk) 12:10, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Nicknames
Right. The nicknames on this page are getting out of hand. I'm not convinced that nicknames are encyclopaedic but that's a different matter. We can't go on adding everything that everyone has, at some stage, called Bell. If we were to do that I'd have to add "Bloody Useless" to the nicknames of almost every England player of the 90s. I'm going to be bold and remove all nicknames except "Belly" because that is the one he's given on Cricinfo. I don't consider opinion pieces by comedians or the live text commentary to be a reliable source so I shall remove them on that basis. If anyone disagrees with this then we can start the debate on here and reach a consensus rather than keep reverting in the article. If they're added back in without explanation on this talk page then I will remove them again. If this has been discussed elsewhere can someone link the discussion to here and we can follow previous consensus. KingStrato (talk) 16:04, 23 August 2013 (UTC)


 * There is a difference between a nickname (i.e. what his team-mates might call him), and between an epithet invented by the press. Barney the barney barney (talk) 16:15, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
 * That's what I was trying to say - but you said it better than I did :) KingStrato (talk) 19:52, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Why only the 1990s? My memory goes back 20 years further. (BTW I agree with you, the only nickname I've heard is "Belly".) Narky Blert (talk) 19:41, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

The nickname that is actually most used for him is I.Ron Man/ Iron Man (from his initials). Easy to find many examples going back year, e.g. this one from 2011 http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/aug/19/england-india-day-two-live  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.25.109.196 (talk) 16:05, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

Cov vs Villa
A citation would be desirable - but I've lived in Cov for 40 years, and what I wrote is true. There were three clubs in the old Football League whose names included swearwords: Arsenal, Scunthorpe, and Aston ******* Villa. Narky Blert (talk) 19:41, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

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