Thaindian News

London, Dec 19 (ANI): Former England captain Michael Vaughan wants batsman Ian Bell up the batting order to make the most of his run-making ability in the Ashes series.

Bell was England’s first innings top scorer with 53, despite batting at six in the Perth Test.

“It’s a travesty - you can’t have a guy playing that well being left with the tail, he’s playing as well as I’ve ever seen him,’ said Vaughan.

Bell’s knock of 53 in Perth comes after scores of 76 and 68 in the first two Tests.

“The change has to be that Bell goes up the order,” Vaughan told BBC Sport.

“Put him up, even to four, with Kevin Pietersen at five and Paul Collingwood at six. Straight away when he bats tomorrow, he’ll be with the tail - it’s a lost cause, but we have to get Bell up the order,” he said.

Bell’s record suggests, however, that he is more comfortable in the lower middle order.

In his current position of six, he had scored 1,288 runs at an average of 56 before the current Test, hitting five centuries. (ANI)