Bell available for Bangladesh tour

England batsman Ian Bell will be available for selection for Bangladesh and India tours while the Warwickshire skipper completed a deal to play for Perth Scorchers in the forthcoming edition of Australia’s Big Bash League.

Asked whether his arrangement with Perth contains scope for a late arrival, were he to be part of the England Test side touring this winter, Bell replied: “We haven’t spoken about any of that stuff yet. I’m all in with Perth Scorchers at the minute, reports The Guardian.

“Every player has ambitions to play for England and until I retire I am no different. This season I haven’t thought about it too much – it does you no good thinking about things that are out of your control anyway. I’m sure my phone won’t be switched off [when the England selectors meet in September]. As captain at Warwickshire, it never stops ringing anyway.”

Bell has not made an overwhelming case for a Test recall through his numbers in county cricket this summer, with an unbeaten 94 in the 50-over semi-final win against Somerset at Edgbaston on Monday his highest score since a century in the opening week of the County Championship against Hampshire in April.

England’s Test and one-day tour, which had been placed in doubt after the 1 July terrorist attack in Dhaka in which 20 hostages and two policemen were killed, was confirmed last Thursday following a briefing given to the current 50-over squad by Reg Dickason, the ECB’s security adviser, and Andrew Strauss, the director of cricket.

Alastair Cook has assured England he will travel to Bangladesh and lead the team on the Test leg of the tour. But the England & Wales Cricket Board still has to convince Eoin Morgan, the one-day captain, that their security plans are tight enough to ensure the team’s safety on the trip.

David Leatherdale, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association who was part of the three-man security delegation that went to Bangladesh earlier this month, believes some players may pull out once the squads are picked. 

Liam Plunkett, who toured Bangladesh with England in 2010, has said he will make a decision once selected for the tour and admitted the issue is hanging over the team as they try to win a one-day series against Pakistan.