County C'ship 2022: Derbyshire sign Ian Bell as consultant batting coach
Apr 06, 2022
London [UK], April 6 : Former England batter Ian Bell on Wednesday appointed as the consultant batting coach of Derbyshire for the 2022 County Championship.
Bell, who retired from professional cricket at the end of the truncated 2020 season, has been involved with several short-form sides in the early stages of his coaching career, including England Under-19s, Hobart Hurricanes, Birmingham Phoenix and Chennai Braves in the Abu Dhabi T10.
"As a young coach, the opportunity to learn from one of the biggest names in the game was massive. Mickey has big plans for the future of Derbyshire, and I'm really excited to be part of it for the next couple of months," said Ian Bell as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
Bell, who had his first training session with the squad on Tuesday, said that there is a 'lot of talent' in the club.
"There's a lot of talent there. Now, it's about making sure that it's always on show across all formats. Between them, our batters have more than 100 all-formats centuries and there's the ability to make big scores. My job is to help them to continue progressing and perform at their best," said Bell.
At Derbyshire, Bell will be working under new head coach Mickey Arthur and replacing Mal Loye who has left his role as one of the club's assistant coaches.
"As a player, Ian had a career which any batter would be proud of, and it will be a great opportunity for our players to learn from him and develop under his coaching," said Arthur.
"Last season, the batting was an aspect of the squad's game that needed to improve, so Ian's arrival gives us a real boost, he has considerable international experience and that will help us continue to drive the standards we've set for the team," he added.
