Ian Bell: Former England batter to remain on Derbyshire coaching staff

Ian Bell spent his entire 21-year English county playing career with Warwickshire

Ian Bell is to remain at Derbyshire as batting consultant for the 2023 season.

The 40-year-old former England batter initially took the role on a two-month basis in April 2022.

Bell - who played 118 Test matches for his country and scored 7,727 runs, which included 22 centuries - will join Mickey Arthur's Derbyshire side on their upcoming pre-season training camp in Spain.

"It wasn't a difficult decision to come back," Bell told the club website.

"Working with Mickey is something every young coach should dream of; you're learning from one of the best in the world and I know this will help me as I go though my coaching career."

Derbyshire finished fifth in Division Two of the County Championship last season, while six players hit more than 1,000 runs across all formats.

They achieved a club record nine wins in the group stage of the T20 Blast, before going out of the competition against Somerset in the quarter-finals.

Arthur said Bell, who last season worked with the Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred and had a stint on the England Lions coaching staff, will be a "valuable asset".

"Ian works around the world, he sees what's working and isn't working with batting and it means he can always come in with a fresh set of eyes and new ideas to enhance our strong batting line-up," Arthur said.

Derbyshire start the new season with a home County Championship Division Two game against Worcestershire on 6 April.