As a glittering career closed, Dan Mousley’s was just beginning

Plenty of Bears fans travelled to south Wales to witness the end of an era: Ian Bell’s last knock for Warwickshire. It arrived on the third day and the multiple Ashes-winner, playing his 524th first class innings, went out in the style with which his batting will always be associated. He scored an exquisite 90 before Timm van der Gugten trimmed his off bail.

A valedictory century proved elusive, but it was a typically classy farewell from the player who averaged 42.69 in 118 Tests for England. And the wrinkle to the plot arrived after lunch on day three when, for a while, he batted with Dan Mousley.

Mousley, just turned 19, was playing only his third first class match but already it was clear that here was a major talent. Perhaps, whisper it quietly, one to compare with Bell’s. That’s a big call, but Mousley underlined his potential that day, following Bell’s 90 with a fluent 71, and has been underlining ever since.

Mousley’s first-team impact at Warwickshire was stalled for a year by wretched injury luck – three broken fingers sustained in separate incidents. But this season, in the Bears’ strong start in both red and white-ball cricket, he has been a leader. The recent Vitality Blast fixture against the Rapids at Worcester summed up his influence: a dazzling 28-ball 49 to set an imposing target, three tight overs to protect it and two fine catches.

Some talent! History may well reflect upon that half-hour in Cardiff as the fleeting convergence of two Warwickshire greats.

“That was so cool,” said Mousley. “I knew Belly well from the Bears and also England Under-19s where he was batting coach when I played, so to bat with him in the last game of his career was special. He’s a player I watched on the telly and always admired, so to bat with him and call him a mate was amazing. He still phones to see how I’m doing and I really appreciate that. It’s fantastic to have someone who has achieved all that he has in your corner.”

Mousley is now in his fifth season as a professional but, like Bell and Chris Woakes before him, was in the Edgbaston system from boyhood. Bears through and through, when he made his debut, just passed his 18th birthday, against Essex in the Championship at Chelmsford, he lived the dream.

It didn’t go well – out for three and nought to Simon Harmer – but after the intense frustration of that freak sequence of injuries, it’s going pretty well now.

“I was on a summer contract when I was called up for Essex game and Jeetan Patel told me the day before, ‘you’re playing and batting five,’ recalls Mousley. “I didn’t know much about Harmer but soon found out. I ran one down to third man to get off the mark but didn’t get much further and then got a first-baller. It was an interesting start to my first-class career!

“Then I got myself in the T20 team and was doing well and thinking, ‘yeah, I do belong in professional cricket’ when I dived in practice and broke a finger which put me out for six weeks. I got back for the RL50 and the plan was to be ready for the T20 quarter-final at Kent and the Championship run in, but just before the Kent game, Jonathan Trott hit one at me in practice and I slipped over and bust my little finger. That was that season done. I started the next season with a decent 40 against Surrey then Tony Frost hit one at me and another finger broke. That was quite a dark period. I was asking why I kept getting breaks and if there was a weakness there, but the medics said it was just really bad luck.

“I got back in for the T20 at Trent Bridge when we got 260 last year and ever since then, touch wood, it’s gone well. This season we’re going well in both comps and I’ve done okay.”

Actually, a lot better than okay. Mousley’s fast-scoring in the championship, notably his career-best 94 (93 balls, seven fours, four sixes) against Kent at Edgbaston, has earned the bowlers time to force wins while he has been the standout performer with bat and ball in the Blast.

It is the sort of form – and style – which appeals to the current England hierarchy.

“I want to play for England but that’s not at the front of my mind,” he said. “It’s all about how I can win games for Warwickshire. I’ve got a book and before every game I write some thoughts down and at the top every time is, ‘how can I put the team in a winning position?’ ‘How can I help win this game for Warwickshire?’

“I like to take the positive option and put bat to ball and everyone is supporting the way I’m playing. Before the first Championship game, Mark Robinson said to me, ‘if you get 100 or 0 it won’t define you – we’re still going to back you.’ Being supported like that is fantastic.

“Against Kent I wasn’t even thinking about getting a hundred. I’d love to get my first hundred under my belt but if I didn’t score those runs quickly we might not have had time to win the game. Most importantly we won a game that could have ended up in a draw. Some days it’s not going to be my day but I’d like to think there will be times when I take the positive option and that gives us more time to take 20 wickets.

“All I wanted to do as a kid was play for Warwickshire and win trophies and then maybe play for England, Hopefully the way I play my cricket gives me the best possible chance to do all those things one day.”

It will surely happen… and make that day in Cardiff an ‘I was there’ occasion for all those travelling Bears supporters.