Tasmania had one eye on the future when they signed Gabe Bell to bolster their pace stocks in 2013-14 but it would be four summers before he was upgraded to the full-contract list at the Tigers.
His Sheffield Shield debut came at the end of the 2016-17 summer and he carried that form into the following season with an impressive 24 wickets in six games at an average of 19.79.
Carving out a niche as a damaging red-ball bowler, Bell’s career stagnated somewhat during the Covid pandemic when injuries and poor form hit.
However, the consistent quick stormed back into the Tasmania team during the 2023-24 summer and had the best campaign of his career, taking 42 wickets at 19.90, which included career-best figures of 6-39 and earned him a spot in the Sheffield Shield Team of the Year as the Tigers made the final.