Bell led Warwickshire to victory in the CB40 final with a century
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Batsman Ian Bell has been added to the England squad for the remaining two one-day internationals with Pakistan. Bell, 28, was initially overlooked for the five-match series as he had just returned from a metatarsal injury. But he demonstrated his form with a century in Saturday's Clydesdale Bank 40 Trophy final as he led Warwickshire to victory against Somerset at Lord's. England currently hold a 2-1 lead in a series that has been tarnished by further allegations of spot-fixing. Pakistan's tour had already fallen under a cloud following accusations of a deliberate plot to bowl no-balls in the fourth Test at Lord's at the end of last month.
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The latest allegations, relating to Pakistan's 23-run win in Friday's third one-dayer at the Oval, allege that "a certain scoring pattern" in Pakistan's innings was already known to bookmakers before it became reality. Despite the claims - in which no England players have been implicated - the series will continue with the fourth one-dayer at Lord's on Monday and the final game at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday. England's focus will then switch to the Ashes tour of Australia - beginning in November - for which Bell is deemed to be a guaranteed pick now he has returned to full fitness. "When I did the injury the England guys and the specialists erred on the side of safety," said Bell. "The surgeon suggested eight weeks off. I probably could have played after seven but was it worth risking ahead of Australia? Probably not. "Hats off to the ECB [England and Wales Cricket Board], the physio Kirk Russell and Nick Pierce, the doctor, they got it right in terms of giving me enough time but also getting some cricket under my belt." Bell has played in 81 one-day internationals and averages 36.67 with the bat. On Saturday, his 107 off 95 balls led Warwickshire to a three-wicket victory over Somerset.
Squads for Monday's fourth NatWest Series match between England and Pakistan at Lord's, starting at 1300: England (from): AJ Strauss (captain), SM Davies (wkt), IJL Trott, PD Collingwood, EJG Morgan, RS Bopara, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, GP Swann, MH Yardy, JM Anderson, LJ Wright, IR Bell. Pakistan (from): S Afridi (captain), M Hafeez, F Alam, M Yousuf, U Akmal, K Akmal (wkt), A Shafiq, A Razzaq, U Gul, S Ajmal, S Akhtar, M Irfan, S Hasan, A Ali, W Riaz. Umpires: B Doctrove and R Kettleborough Third umpire: R Illingworth Match referee: J Crowe
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