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CW Worst 15 Cricketers of All Time - The Results
- Thread starter HeathDavisSpeed
- Start date
Hurricane
Hall of Fame Member
You can't be driven by likes! I realise you are kidding of course.
RossTaylorsBox
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Clearly Johnson Charles will end up better than Lara.
HeathDavisSpeed
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Number 8=: Matthew Bell
Highest Ranking 2
Total Points 14
Number of Votes Received 2/13
Another day (well, another year) and another mediocre Kiwi finds himself onto the CW Worst 15 Players of All Time list. No caveats and no redemption, Matthew Bell is on the list and deservedly so.
Bell was born in Dunedin, but made his cricket home in Northern Districts. He made his debut for ND in 1994 and took 3 seasons to score his first ton for them. Despite this, in 1998 he earned a call-up for the New Zealand Test team, taking on India at the Basin Reserve. Despite this debut, his name fails to gain a mention in the Wisden report on the match. This is presumably because he only featured at the crease for a total of 16 balls. In the first dig, he scored a few runs (4) before edging the 'venomous' Venkatesh Prasad through to the keeper. The 2nd dig, he lasted 3 balls against Javagal Srinath before edging to the slips. He improved in this in the next test by only taking 2 balls to edge Srinath to the keeper.
Bell was a reasonable fixture in the New Zealand team through 1999 - playing at home against both India and once against South Africa, he somehow earned the full series away to England and two tests away to India. His top score in this period was 83 at Old Trafford. His next highest score in 16 innings was 26.
He was dropped, but earned his 2nd opportunity on weight of first class runs in 2001 and performed much better against Pakistan at home. 75 and 40 at Christchurch were followed by his first Test ton at Hamilton. That Christchurch deck was a runs fest, but the pitch in Hamilton was much trickier, as evidenced by the Pakistanis failing to pass 120 in either innings. One New Zealand opener in this test made his first Test ton and went on to have a good career - Mark Richardson. Bell saw off some tricky periods, particularly at the start of Day Three after the 2nd day had been lost to bad weather. Bell was eventually dismissed by a Waqar Younis yorker, hardly the first to suffer that particular indignity. Finally, it looked as if Bell might turn his potential and volume of domestic runs into an international career. New Zealand, however, didn't play another Test for six months.
New Zealand's next assignment was away in Australia. With inadequate preparation, Bell scored 15 runs across 3 innings at Brisbane and Hobart. He received a particularly difficult delivery from Jason Gillespie in the first innings in Brisbane, cutting off the seam to be caught at third slip by Ricky Ponting. Chasing a stiff target with only 57 overs, he was Lbw to Glenn McGrath in the 2nd innings. The 2nd Test in Hobart was heavily impacted by weather and perhaps to judge Bell on his output in that match, also drawn, is harsh. His innings of 4 off 47 balls before being dismissed by Warne was painful, but the conditions were tough in damp and dark weather. Despite these extenuating circumstances, and the century against Pakistan only a couple of Tests previously, he was dumped for the 3rd Test and replaced by Lou Vincent. Vincent made a ton and Bell's cards were marked.
Over 6 years later, he received his third chance in the New Zealand Test - in the home summer against Bangladesh and England. Once again, his domestic performances and New Zealand's continued struggles to find an opener meant his services were again in demand. And it was a return worth waiting for - an important ton in the first innings against Bangladesh at Dunedin in a low scoring encounter was important, particular with only one other New Zealand batsman scoring more than 40. It's also worth remembering that this was the first ton from a New Zealand opener in 22 Tests!
But it was another false dawn. Lack of footwork saw Bell dismissed for two low scores in the first Test against England at Hamilton. Things didn't improve at the Basin Reserve as Bell copped a good ball from Anderson before nibbling at balls on a 4th stump line for 30 overs before finally edging Broad to the keeper. He scored some runs in the final Test at Napier, 69 in a tough ask in the 2nd innings but bagged another duck in the first innings. That 69 wasn't enough to save his career as it hadn't stopped him from looking out of his depth against a solid seam attack throughout the series. He'd scrapped for those 69, but despite Sinclair also performing equally badly and the retirement of Stephen Fleming after that series, he was not retained for the return series in England. The New Zealand opening batsman revolving door turned again and dredged up Jamie How and Aaron Redmond (with James Marshall to replace Fleming!). Sigh.
Career Highlight
After already suffering at the hands of Ryan Sidebottom in the 2008 NZ-England series and with his international career on the line, Matthew Bell pads up to some from Ryan Sidebottom at Napier and finds the ball hitting him bang in front. An awful misjudgement and a 2-ball innings that left commentators to ponder just how out of his depth Bell was.
What they said about him
JBH sums up most thoughts on Matthew Bell
Highest Ranking 2
Total Points 14
Number of Votes Received 2/13
Another day (well, another year) and another mediocre Kiwi finds himself onto the CW Worst 15 Players of All Time list. No caveats and no redemption, Matthew Bell is on the list and deservedly so.
Bell was born in Dunedin, but made his cricket home in Northern Districts. He made his debut for ND in 1994 and took 3 seasons to score his first ton for them. Despite this, in 1998 he earned a call-up for the New Zealand Test team, taking on India at the Basin Reserve. Despite this debut, his name fails to gain a mention in the Wisden report on the match. This is presumably because he only featured at the crease for a total of 16 balls. In the first dig, he scored a few runs (4) before edging the 'venomous' Venkatesh Prasad through to the keeper. The 2nd dig, he lasted 3 balls against Javagal Srinath before edging to the slips. He improved in this in the next test by only taking 2 balls to edge Srinath to the keeper.
Bell was a reasonable fixture in the New Zealand team through 1999 - playing at home against both India and once against South Africa, he somehow earned the full series away to England and two tests away to India. His top score in this period was 83 at Old Trafford. His next highest score in 16 innings was 26.
He was dropped, but earned his 2nd opportunity on weight of first class runs in 2001 and performed much better against Pakistan at home. 75 and 40 at Christchurch were followed by his first Test ton at Hamilton. That Christchurch deck was a runs fest, but the pitch in Hamilton was much trickier, as evidenced by the Pakistanis failing to pass 120 in either innings. One New Zealand opener in this test made his first Test ton and went on to have a good career - Mark Richardson. Bell saw off some tricky periods, particularly at the start of Day Three after the 2nd day had been lost to bad weather. Bell was eventually dismissed by a Waqar Younis yorker, hardly the first to suffer that particular indignity. Finally, it looked as if Bell might turn his potential and volume of domestic runs into an international career. New Zealand, however, didn't play another Test for six months.
New Zealand's next assignment was away in Australia. With inadequate preparation, Bell scored 15 runs across 3 innings at Brisbane and Hobart. He received a particularly difficult delivery from Jason Gillespie in the first innings in Brisbane, cutting off the seam to be caught at third slip by Ricky Ponting. Chasing a stiff target with only 57 overs, he was Lbw to Glenn McGrath in the 2nd innings. The 2nd Test in Hobart was heavily impacted by weather and perhaps to judge Bell on his output in that match, also drawn, is harsh. His innings of 4 off 47 balls before being dismissed by Warne was painful, but the conditions were tough in damp and dark weather. Despite these extenuating circumstances, and the century against Pakistan only a couple of Tests previously, he was dumped for the 3rd Test and replaced by Lou Vincent. Vincent made a ton and Bell's cards were marked.
Over 6 years later, he received his third chance in the New Zealand Test - in the home summer against Bangladesh and England. Once again, his domestic performances and New Zealand's continued struggles to find an opener meant his services were again in demand. And it was a return worth waiting for - an important ton in the first innings against Bangladesh at Dunedin in a low scoring encounter was important, particular with only one other New Zealand batsman scoring more than 40. It's also worth remembering that this was the first ton from a New Zealand opener in 22 Tests!
But it was another false dawn. Lack of footwork saw Bell dismissed for two low scores in the first Test against England at Hamilton. Things didn't improve at the Basin Reserve as Bell copped a good ball from Anderson before nibbling at balls on a 4th stump line for 30 overs before finally edging Broad to the keeper. He scored some runs in the final Test at Napier, 69 in a tough ask in the 2nd innings but bagged another duck in the first innings. That 69 wasn't enough to save his career as it hadn't stopped him from looking out of his depth against a solid seam attack throughout the series. He'd scrapped for those 69, but despite Sinclair also performing equally badly and the retirement of Stephen Fleming after that series, he was not retained for the return series in England. The New Zealand opening batsman revolving door turned again and dredged up Jamie How and Aaron Redmond (with James Marshall to replace Fleming!). Sigh.
Career Highlight
After already suffering at the hands of Ryan Sidebottom in the 2008 NZ-England series and with his international career on the line, Matthew Bell pads up to some from Ryan Sidebottom at Napier and finds the ball hitting him bang in front. An awful misjudgement and a 2-ball innings that left commentators to ponder just how out of his depth Bell was.
What they said about him
JBH sums up most thoughts on Matthew Bell
Geg condemns Bell to the wilderness.
A damning inditement from Kippax.
jimmy101
Cricketer Of The Year
This is a truly amazing thread HDS. Love your articles mate. Perfect combination of bold facts and humour. Thanks for bringing it to life again. Out of curiosity, did anyone vote for the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram?
He would have gotten my vote, horrible batsman & captain who was chosen due to his title alone. Also managed to deprive his own touring party of one of their best players in 1936 when he sent Lala Armanath home from England due to a perceived slight. In the 1st Test against the England, he apparently offered Mushtaq Ali a gold watch to run out Vijay Merchant.
****.
He would have gotten my vote, horrible batsman & captain who was chosen due to his title alone. Also managed to deprive his own touring party of one of their best players in 1936 when he sent Lala Armanath home from England due to a perceived slight. In the 1st Test against the England, he apparently offered Mushtaq Ali a gold watch to run out Vijay Merchant.
****.
HeathDavisSpeed
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Thanks Jimmy. And no, there were no nominations for the Maharajkumar. This may be because not many people thought I would actually deliver on this and so there were only about a dozen voting participants. Still, once we (eventually) get to number one, I think CW has picked a very worthy winner of this accolade.
I think my latest entry needed a bit of proof reading rather than just posting it up to get it out of the way, but c'est la vie.
I think my latest entry needed a bit of proof reading rather than just posting it up to get it out of the way, but c'est la vie.
Athlai
Not Terrible
To be fair its been delivered in Cribblike instalments
kiwiviktor81
International Debutant
Me too. It just wasn't mentally feasible to me for a guy to keep scoring double and triple hundreds at first class level and somehow be so poor at Test level. But it happened.
Edit: I used to have a mate named Matthew Bell who played cricket. He used to tell stories about having just come back to NZ from a cricket tour etc. and people used to believe him. Was pretty funny watching him keep a straight face.
Last edited:
wellAlbidarned
International Coach
bell didn't score any FC triples
Athlai
Not Terrible
Also I think he may only have 3 doubles. He never scored any at the Basin.
Edit: Confirmed, only 3 doubles. Never more than 1 in a season.
Last edited:
straw man
Hall of Fame Member
I remember Bell scoring that century v Pakistan (though I don't think I watched it) and thinking the opener problem was solved. Then it all went horribly wrong the next season. Unlucky not to be persisted with a little longer though.
His second incarnation is more clear in my mind; he was quite awful by then and even his century v Bangladesh was ugly iirc.
His second incarnation is more clear in my mind; he was quite awful by then and even his century v Bangladesh was ugly iirc.
NZTailender
I can't believe I ate the whole thing
He did so. viktor heard it on the radio when he was travelling from Dunedin to Invercargill in an hour.
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
There was a Matthew Bell who played professional rugby league at the same time the cricketer was playing for New Zealand. Seems to be a very common name, anecdotally.
thierry henry
International Coach
Perhaps it's just because the passage of time seems longer when you're younger, but I always regarded Bell as having 3 incarnations. I always saw the 2000/01-2001/02 version as being his second incarnation, although he was only out of the national side for about 18 months 1999-2001.
I seem to recall that he didn't have that ridiculous closed stance in 1999 but he did by 2000/01- am I right about that, or did he adopt that stance prior to the Aussie tour in 2001/02, or only during the mid 2000s when he was working his way back into the side?