England batsman Ian Bell expects Australia to come back "hard if not harder" in the fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge after an embarrassing loss at Edgbaston.
Bell, returning to form, made two fifties on his Warwickshire home ground as England beat Australia by eight wickets inside three days to win the third Test and go 2-1 up in the series.
It was a fine recovery by Alastair Cook’s side after England suffered a 405-run thrashing in the second Test at Lord’s.
That match saw Australia bounce back from a convincing 169-run loss in the first Test in Cardiff.
Such has been the see-saw nature of this campaign that 33-year-old Bell, a veteran of 113 Tests, refused to take anything for granted when the fourth match in the series starts at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge ground on Thursday.
“We fully expect Australia to come back hard, if not harder,” Bell told BBC Radio Five’s Sportsweek programme.
“We have to front up again like we did,” at Edgbaston he added, with England yet to win two Tests in a row in 2015.
Bell’s position was called into question after two low scores at Lord’s left him with a meagre average of 20.84 in seven Tests this year.
But rather than drop him, England’s selectors promoted Bell to No 3 in place of Gary Ballance, left out after an equally poor run of form.
Bell, who responded with innings of 53 and 63, said the speculation about his place had been liberating rather than burdensome.
“When things started to get to that point where people were saying this might be my last Test match, I actually got into a simpler, much better mindset,” he said.
“I was going to go out there and give it absolutely everything and what will be, will be.”
Bell, who at one stage had scored just 45 runs in seven innings added: “It’s been really tough. You go in and out of form, and sometimes you don’t know where the next run’s coming from and I honestly did feel like that at times.”
The Warwickshire stalwart said the support from his home crowd had helped end his personal slump.
“It’s nice to come to Edgbaston, we’ve had incredible support as a team, but as a local player I felt like when I walked out to bat in particular on Day 1 it was the best applause I’ve ever got in my career, and I felt that the whole crowd was with me and desperate for me to do well.”
Some of the gloss of England’s win was taken off by a side injury to James Anderson which ruled him out playing at Trent Bridge – a ground where the paceman has enjoyed phenomenal success in Test cricket.
But while losing their all-time leading wicket-taker is a setback, Bell said it was always unlikely that England would get through the series with an unchanged attack.
And having seen how fast bowler Steven Finn took a Test-best six for 79 at Edgbaston, after replacing the injured Mark Wood for his first match at this level since 2013, Bell was confident one of the back-up seamers – including the fit-again Wood – could shine in Anderson’s absence.
Speaking of the 2010/11 Ashes, which England won 3-1, Bell said, “We lost (Stuart) Broad quite early in the series and it gave Tim Bresnan an opportunity, it gave Chris Tremlett an opportunity.
“We were never going to win this series with just 11 players, it was going to be a squad effort and that’s what experience tells me.”
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Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
Five films to watch
Castle in the Sky (1986)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Pom Poki (1994)
The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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