The early stages of the 41-year-old's coaching career have taken him to Derbyshire, New Zealand, England Under-19s, the Big Bash League, T10 League and The Hundred; necessary steps on the ladder towards his ultimate goal
Ian Bell has outlined his long-term ambitions of becoming England Men's head coach but is willing to bide his time during the early years of his coaching career.
On either side of the 41-year-old calling time on his playing days in 2020 - during which time he amassed over 34,000 runs across formats - Bell has made great strides applying his knowledge in various coaching roles.
England Under-19s and the Lions, Hobart Hurricanes, Derbyshire, Chennai Braves, Birmingham Phoenix and New Zealand have all benefitted from the ex-Warwickshire batter who is bound for Australia for a stint with a second Big Bash League side in the form of Melbourne Renegades, where he will work under former England fast-bowling coach David Saker.
Though still in the early stages of his second coming in the sport, Bell's ultimate goal should come as no surprise.
"I have ambitions to be an international coach," he told The Daily Telegraph. "Hopefully with England, but I'd love to do another international team too.
New Zealand called upon Bell for the England and Bangladesh tours prior to the ODI World Cup (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
"I have seen players I've played with jump straight into [head] coaching roles and not get it quite right. Starting your coaching career is just like when you start your playing career.
"You invest in experiences, like playing club cricket in Australia, you learn along that journey. That's what I've been trying to do. Get that clarity in assistant roles so that if I become a head coach, I am ready.
"The aspiration is to be a head coach at the right time, not to rush things, try to really be clear, so when the opportunity comes I will be really ready.
"I am trying to take a little bit from everyone I work with. Andy Flower was brilliant, but he's probably even better now than he was when I was coached by him because the world has probably changed a little bit, we communicate differently from 10 years ago.
Bell will be reunited with David Saker (left, centre) at Melbourne Renegades (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
"I enjoyed working with Stephen Fleming, with all his experience of the IPL, when I was with New Zealand too. Equally, it's very rewarding working with a guy like Rachin Ravindra and then seeing him perform so well."
Despite holding such ambitions, Bell is unwilling to cut any corners nor does he want to earn any opportunities based on his name and reputation alone.
"An important thing for me is to be seen as Ian Bell, the coach," he added. "Inevitably there will be people who remember me as a player. But I want to earn my stripes as a good coach, not just getting there on the basis of what I did as a player.
"I want to do the hard yards. I don't want to be given something on the back of my playing career. The wealth of experience I can pass on is huge, and I want to use it, but I want to earn the right to use it because of my coaching too."
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