Ian Bell to retire from professional cricket at the end of season

Former England batsman Ian Bell will retire at the end of this domestic season.

Bell, who has spent his entire career with Warwickshire, issued a statement on Saturday, that he will hang up his boots when Warwickshire wraps up the season.

Former England batsman Ian Bell, who was part of five Ashes-winning teams, will retire at the end of the season. Bell won 118 Test caps, and played in 161 One-Day Internationals as well as eight Twenty20 Internationals.

The No. 3 batsman will be perhaps best remembered by England for being part of the side which reclaimed the Ashes in 2005. He lifted the urn on four further occasions - in 2009, ‘10, ‘13 and ‘15 - during a Test career which yielded 7,727 runs and 22 centuries at an average of almost 43.

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Across his first-class career, Bell has scored 20,300 runs at an average of 43.46, with 57 hundreds. Bell has spent his entire domestic career with Warwickshire and announced on Saturday his decision to call time on his playing days when the team wraps up its commitments this season.

"It’s true when they say you know when the time’s right, and unfortunately, my time is now,” the 38-year-old Bell said.

"While my hunger and enthusiasm for the sport that I love remain as strong as ever, my body simply can’t keep up with the demands of the game to the standard of which I expect of myself.”