Matt Maher: Class on and off the pitch, we’re lucky to have seen Ian Bell

It would have been very easy for Bell, contract extension already signed, to play on into next year and keep picking up his money. But that wouldn’t have been right, either for him or the Bears.

“I couldn’t disrespect the club I love by being unable to play to the level they deserve,” he wrote.

“While my hunger and enthusiasm for the sport remain as strong as ever, my body simply can’t keep up with the demands of the game to the standard of which I expect for myself.”

Time waits for no-one and Bell is leaving cricket after more than two decades on his terms and with no regrets – not even the fact he agonisingly fell 10 runs short of a 58th first-class century in his final red-ball innings for the county.

The topic which will be debated now by members and supporters is just where Bell sits in the club’s pantheon of greats? It is a question as impossible to answer as it is to categorise. On a historical level, it seems difficult to view him ever being revered in the same manner as Sydney Barnes. In terms of the best-ever to play for the Bears, it is hard to look past the likes of Brian Lara and Allan Donald.

Earlier this year, meanwhile, Bell finished second behind Dennis Amiss in a poll to find Warwickshire’s greatest-ever batsman.

In terms of first-class runs scored for the county, that is understandable. Amiss racked up a remarkable 35,146, while Bell’s total is barely a third of that.

Yet Bell played in the age of central contracts and spent more than a decade as a permanent fixture in the England Test team. In that respect, a strong case can be made for Bell being the finest international player the Bears have ever produced.

Only eight England batsmen have scored more Test match runs than Bell’s 7,727, while only two have more than his 22 Test centuries.

His Warwickshire team-mate Jonathan Trott also enjoyed a fine international career but neither he, Amiss or even Bob Willis could quite match Bell’s longevity. Ian Botham is the only other England player to have been involved in five Ashes series wins.

Others might make different arguments and that is part of the fun. There is no definitive answer to such questions.

Whatever Bell’s place in the history books, he has unquestionably one of the finest players of his generation.