Last time I gave my souvenir stump to Trott... there's no way I'm doing that this time

10 April 2012

When Chris Tremlett bowled Michael Beer to seal our third innings victory of the tour here at the Sydney Cricket Ground, I ran in from mid-off and grabbed a stump before joining the team huddle.

I'll never forget their backing then, so to be there in front of them on the way to winning 3-1 has paid back those fans who came out and spent a lot of money to watch us lose 5-0. Those were the thoughts going through my mind as I walked around the SCG with the rest of the squad.

After we beat Australia at the The Oval in 2009 to regain the Ashes, I gave the stump I'd grabbed to Jonathan Trott because he'd scored a century on his Test debut that had helped us win the match.

But there was no way I was doing that this time! The stump will be a special souvenir of an unbelievable series for the England cricket team.

For the first time in the series, we went into Australia's changing room for a beer after the game. We did it four years ago after they'd completed the whitewash, so you won't need me to tell you which occasion was the more enjoyable.

Having been here in 2006 and watched Australia go through what we went through today, this is an incredible feeling. It doesn't happen very often — the last time England won the Ashes here was 24 years ago — so that makes it more memorable.

Getting my first Ashes century in this match was also a huge breakthrough. Hopefully, I can kick on now because, at 28, I believe my best batting is ahead of me and I want to be able to achieve some really big things for this team.

A hundred at the SCG just has to be the best feeling I've had in cricket. India and South Africa are one and two in the world but scoring an Ashes hundred just has that X' Factor.

It was amazing to see only a half-full ground for the South Africa-India Test in Cape Town. There is something about Ashes cricket that produces fantastic sport and attracts full stadiums, so scoring a hundred to contribute to a Test win in Sydney and a 3-1 series victory — it doesn't get any better than that.

I was most nervous in the eighties during that knock because my highest previous score against Australia was 87 but once I got into the nineties, I actually felt quite cool and calm.

I know there was a bit of fuss about what happened when I was given out caught behind off Shane Watson on 67 and I reviewed it. There was a noise and that's probably why I paused a bit before calling for the review but I didn't feel anything on the bat and Hot Spot showed nothing.

If I'd known I'd hit the ball, I would have walked off and the umpire Aleem Dar actually said to me that he knew I was a walker, anyway. When you nick it, you do feel something.

Both Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke said they weren't sure, so what can I do? If you're not sure, you're going to review it. That's what the system is there for.

Test cricket is a tough game and there will be times it goes for us and times it goes against us. I'm not a cheat and my conscience is massively clear.

If you look towards future Ashes series, there are so many reasons for us to be positive. When we beat Australia A' in Hobart earlier in the tour, we knew that we could well be playing against those players in England in 2013.

If you get one of them out or bat well against their bowlers — as we did — that carries through to future series. When I came into the England team as a young player, Australia were all over me and it took time to come through. Now it will be the same for young Australian players. They're going to come up against an England side who I'm
convinced will be together for a good while yet.

Now, it's on to the limited-overs matches against Australia, the World Cup and summer series against Sri Lanka and India.

We've started the journey to becoming the No1 Test team in the world but we're still a long way from getting there. We have to be consistent over a period of time, as the great Australia team were.

I couldn't sign off without mentioning what Paul Collingwood has brought to this team, as he has now retired from Tests. He has been an amazing servant to England and someone I learned a lot from, especially about playing tough innings.

There could be no better way for him to go out than this.


Ian Bell is writing for Standard Sport throughout The Ashes in association with Lebara Mobile with whom you can call Australia from 4p a minute.

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