Bell’s target is to accumulate runs from any position

That will never be an easy task, of course, as long as current International Cricket Council player of the year Jonathan Trott is in the frame.

Bell could hardly have put forward better credentials to stay in the coveted role by hitting 159 and then a career-best 235 in only three attempts while Trott was nursing a shoulder injury during last summer’s 4-0 Test series victory over India.

That was, though, the audition of an understudy and despite a prolific run of form since the start of last winter’s Ashes, Bell is prepared to fulfil whichever task suits England’s Test match world-beaters best.

That almost certainly means he will be back at No 5, where his fine technique against spin will doubtless come in very handy against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, as England embark on their first series since becoming the ICC’s No 1 Test team.

The 29-year-old said: “I’ve had success at five, I’ve had success at six – and I’m very happy to bat there. I’ll bat wherever the team want me to bat.

“My long-term goal is I want to bat in the top three. But for me now, it’s just a matter of scoring runs in this series.”

A career-high double century from captain Michael Clarke and a drought-breaking ton for Ricky Ponting left Australia in complete control against India at stumps on day two of the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

It was a day of total dominance for the hosts who piled on 366 runs for the loss of just one wicket to reach 482-4, leading by 291 runs with three days still to play. Clarke (251no) and Ponting (134) set the tone with a breathtaking 288-run stand before Michael Hussey (55 not out) joined his captain in an unbeaten century partnership to complete a miserable day for the tourists.

n Jacques Kallis made a career-best double hundred to help leave South Africa in a strong position at the close of day two in the decisive third Test against Sri Lanka in Cape Town.

Kallis, having achieved the feat of scoring centuries against every Test-playing nation by reaching three figures, finally fell for 224 while AB de Villiers contributed an unbeaten 160 in South Africa’s daunting 580-4 declared.

Sri Lanka then continued the run-fest by racing to 149-2 in reply by stumps, with captain Tillakaratne Dilshan scoring a quickfire 78 at the top of the order.

That still left the tourists 431 runs adrift though.