England v West Indies: Ian Bell rings in timely reminder of his quality while Jonny Bairstow impresses on debut So, by deduction, it apparently had to be Bell. I don't think it did actually. Flower did not mean that. Not intentionally anyway. I'd asked Flower about his confidence in the top order going to India this autumn and improving considerably on last winter's travails. In the main he said he was confident, that lessons had been sufficiently learnt adding that little corollary just to ensure nobody considers an England batting spot a sinecure. The truth is that Bell had a bit of a stinker last winter, making just one half-century in five Tests. But he was hardly alone in his struggles. And there was credit in the bank. Boy, was there credit in the bank. His final Test innings of last summer was 235 against India at the Oval. He made four other centuries during the calendar year of 2011, in which he averaged 118.75. Quite simply he was then the best batsman in the world. However, in the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka he often looked a more nervy tyro than the one who announced himself to Test cricket against the West Indies at the Oval in 2004. That match, when Bell made 70, was easily brought to mind because of the torrid time Fidel Edwards gave him early on. You just suspected that the debutant Jonny Bairstow might have to endure something similar. And immediately he was subjected to a short ball from Kemar Roach that thudded into his body as he attempted evasive action. "Welcome to Test-match cricket," purred Michael Holding in the commentary box. One assumes Holding might have immediately followed up with another bouncer- and posted a short-leg too- but Roach opted for a fuller length on this admittedly slow pitch. Soon Bairstow was stealing his first run in Test cricket as he pushed Roach towards extra cover and Adrian Barath could not prevent the single from wide mid-off. In general Bairstow looked composed. His method is uncomplicated. He does have a small crouch in his preparatory movements, but his head is still at the point of the bowler's delivery and his bat is straight. He did get himself into a tangle from one Roach short ball, looking first to duck and then fending it down to fine leg, but Roach is no slouch. This was not county cricket. Bairstow countered by trying to stand taller, keeping his bat aloft throughout rather than tapping it once on the ground as he had done at the start of his innings. He timed Edwards delightfully off his hips for his first boundary from his ninth ball, and clipped Roach behind square on the leg side and drove him through the covers for further boundaries. It was exciting, and it was eventful, as Bairstow had to change a cracked bat, courtesy of a Roach yorker, during his brief stay. But he went for 16, lbw to Roach, driving at a good length ball that he might have been better served defending. He'd promised, but he hadn't quite delivered. Not with the bat anyway. In the field he most certainly did, as he spectacularly ran out Kirk Edwards with a direct hit from cover with barely more than a stump at which to aim. Bairstow is fleet of foot, and he is fit. He had not scored a run when he ran a four for Bell, a wondrous clip through mid-wicket off Edwards, that most batsmen would not even have contemplated. This was a young man who two years ago took part in a fitness challenge involving the three fittest from each of Yorkshire CCC, Castleford Tigers rugby league side and the footballers of Sheffield United and won the vertical jump test and the 20m sprint. It is his attitude that has impressed the England management as much as his talent. And Bell's attitude has been no less impressive. Since being dropped after the 51-all-out fiasco in Jamaica in 2009, he has worked supremely hard. His body shape has altered markedly, and a rigour has been added to his attractive stroke play. The winter, mainly because he could not read Saeed Ajmal, was a blip. Yesterday his cover drive was working smoothly again and the tucks off his legs stood out for their wonderful balance. The shot of his innings was probably a sweetly timed pulled four off Edwards to take him to 46. A half-century followed before he was last man out, with Bell so at ease that he appeared to be undertaking middle practice in readiness for sterner tests this summer. Bell is back, and on this evidence Bairstow should arrive soon.