Moeen Ali may have grabbed most of the headlines after England’s win over Scotland, but Assistant Coach Paul Fabrace is in no doubt about the impact Ian Bell has had over the all-rounder.
With Moeen scoring 128 off 107 balls in England’s 303 for eight and also picking up 2-47 to help bowl Scotland out for 184, it would be easy to overlook much of the work done by Bell at the top of the order.
The duo yesterday put on England’s highest World Cup opening partnership – 172 that propelled their 119-run victory – though Fabrace is hardly surprised at how well they worked together.
Bell made a measured 54, and Fabrace today told ecb.co.uk:“The great thing was that Belly’s actually a massive influence on Moeen. With his bowling last year, he spent a lot of time working with him, talking to him about the pace to bowl, the lines to bowl.
Pleased to have finally joined Twitter, time to get following people and see what the fuss is all about! #myfirstTweet
— Moeen Ali (@MoeenAli) February 24, 2015
“Players learn from players and Belly, with all his experience and knowledge, has been a great person for Mo to learn from. He enjoys batting with him. The two of them complemented one another fantastically well. It was no surprise they played as well as they did.
"Moeen played exceptionally well. It was probably as good an innings as I’ve seen him play for England. To be up there with the Test hundred he got at Headingley when he had to bat all day. He epitomises the way we want to play."
England’s win came after just a short interval following their defeat to New Zealand, something that Fabrace feels was actually helpful in overcoming the Auld Enemy.
With points on the board, Fabrace was looking forward to a day off before the challenge of facing Sri Lanka, not long after the series between both sides.
“We were fortunate that we only had two days between New Zealand and Scotland because we needed to play very quickly,” Fabrace said.
“Having got the win, today the lads are very happy to be making the journey from Christchurch back to Wellington, surroundings we know very well.
“We’ve got a day off tomorrow, a few are playing golf which will be nice, and then we head into three good days of practice. What we want at the end of it is to convert the good practice into another very good performance on the field for the team.
“We know we’re capable of that, the lads know we’re capable of that. They’ll be keen to put on a show.”
WOW! Thanks for all the welcomes & messages about yesterday, it was a vital win by the boys to kick start our World Cup #LoveEngland#CWC15
— Moeen Ali (@MoeenAli) February 24, 2015
And while beating Associate side Scotland may not have caused major teams to sit up and take notice just yet, Fabrace is loathe to discount the Saltires as challenging opponents.
“I think the pleasing thing was that it was a convincing win,” he added.
“Scotland obviously talked up their chances of beating England, of beating the Auld Enemy and quite rightly so.
“They haven’t come here just to make up the numbers and enjoy a World Cup. They’ve come here to show they’re a good side. They’ve got a lot of very good players.”