Ian Bell has taken two years to shrug off the disappointment of being snubbed by selectors - and now wants to establish himself in the England team.

The Warwickshire batsman won the man-of-the-match award on his one-day international debut on Sunday, scoring 75 to help secure a five-wicket victory over Zimbabwe and ease the tension in the England camp surrounding their controversial tour.

His innings lifted spirits after a week of deliberations and political discussions about whether the tour should continue.

Bell has now established himself in a select bunch of England players to have scored half-centuries in both their maiden one-day international and Test innings along with Marcus Trescothick, Kim Barnett, Chris Broad and Martyn Moxon.

''I've always wanted to play in front of decent crowds on the big scene,'' admitted Bell. ''I've had a little taste of that with Warwickshire in Lord's finals and I really enjoy it and so far it's gone pretty well.

''There were a few nerves because it's a big opportunity for me really with the few players who aren't here and it was a good chance to show them what I can do - it was a bit of a nerve-wracking start but it was good to get over that and do OK.''

The fact Bell achieved the feat amid such a distracted build-up can only count in his favour as he attempts to establish himself two years after finding his international ambitions thwarted in the most disappointing of circumstances.

Bell seemed certain to make his Test debut at Lord's against Sri Lanka at the start of the 2002 season after the selectors dropped Mark Ramprakash.

Despite flying out to New Zealand as cover for the injured Mark Butcher the previous winter, selectors instead opted for the experience of John Crawley.

Although his confidence and form suffered from that setback, the 22-year-old recovered last summer and enjoyed a prolific campaign.

His season culminated in county championship success with Warwickshire and a score of 70 on his Test debut against West Indies at The Oval.

Having played for England at all school-age levels, Bell had long been tipped as a future international player and was once labelled the next Michael Atherton - expectations which may have hindered his development over the last couple of years.

''It was not much of a burden trying to become a Test cricketer, but at the time I really wanted to achieve these things that were being said about me,'' he admitted. ''A couple of years ago when I was down to play in that Lord's Test match and it didn't happen, I was trying too hard.

''Runs weren't coming and it was a vicious cycle and it wasn't happening for me. I was getting more frustrated and I was thinking about too many things and it wasn't coming.

''Last winter I went away and got rid of all that stuff I was thinking about and just focused on the simple things.''

Warwickshire's Australian-born coach John Inverarity suggested a winter playing at the University of Western Australia in Perth, and Bell reaped the rewards. He returned to score 1,498 championship runs at an average of 71.33, including six centuries.

''Getting away from English cricket probably broke that cycle, going to Perth where nobody really knew me at all and just playing cricket and enjoying it again,'' said Bell. ''Going out there and hitting a ball and it keeping it as simple as that helped. ''Obviously I worked on a few technical things and I improved my game while I was out there, but it was really just to get away from English cricket and Warwickshire and everything and just becoming something different.

''I thought I'd get a lot of stick in Australia, but I didn't get it as much as I thought I would. I thought they'd really get stuck into me, but they were typical Aussies and very tough.

''It doesn't matter what level they play at, they all want to go out and win and that was the great thing for me - to play some tough cricket."

England's activities were restricted to the gym yesterday, although seamer Darren Gough failed to take part after becoming dehydrated during Sunday's victory and falling ill overnight.

Gough is expected to be fit for today's second game in the four-match series at the Harare Sports Club.

* Leicestershire hope former England batsman Aftab Habib can reproduce the kind of form integral to their success in the 1990s in his second spell at Grace Road.

Habib yesterday rejoined the midlands county a matter of weeks after fearing his first-class career was over.

During his previous stint, a century against Surrey at The Oval in the final match of 1998 helped claim a second County Championship in three years.

His task now will be to help haul the faltering Foxes out of the bottom division of both Championship and National League.