Knee injury rules Ian Bell out of County Championship season

Ian needs several injections, which rules him out for six to eight weeks © Getty

Ian Bell will not feature for Warwickshire in the remainder of the County Championship season with a knee injury forcing the former England batsman into another lengthy spell on the treatment table. Bell had only just recovered from a long layoff owing to an injured toe before being setback once more with a tendon injury on his left knee.

Bell, who scored 1027 runs last year earning Warwickshire a promotion to the first division, reported his injury after a second XI match versus Lancashire earlier this month. "Ian needs several injections, which rules him out for six to eight weeks," Paul Farbrace, the club's sport director said.

"It's extremely frustrating for us, and for Ian, that another injury has happened when he was extremely close to a First Team return. He will now have a three-week period of minimal activity before working closely with our medical, and strength and conditioning teams to prepare him for the pre-season programme in 2020," Farbrace added.

Bell suffered a foot injury during the Pakistan Super League in February missed the start of the Championship but had been remained hopeful of playing a part in the second half of the season. This setback will now force him to miss a complete season for the first time in 20 years, since he joined the club as a 17-year-old in 1999.

"Whilst we are naturally disappointed to lose a player of Ian's immense talent, one of the positives of 2019 has been the way in which our young, homegrown players have fought in recent weeks. They will continue to be given the opportunity to develop and thrive as we continue our Vitality Blast campaign and fight to retain our place in Division One of the Specsavers County Championship," Farbrace said

Warwickshire, who are seventh on the points table with just two wins from 10 so far, next take on Somerset in the fixture round starting August 18.