His 167 runs helped the hosts declare at 569 for seven in their first innings and put pressure on the visitors who scored 25/1 at stumps to trail by 544 runs.
"I have felt like I have been playing well and then found some strange ways to get out," said Bell yesterday.
"So it was nice to go through the whole process and get a big hundred. It is frustrating without a big score because the job of the top six batsmen is to score runs. You train hard and you prepare well, but that doesn't guarantee results."
"All the senior guys in the dressing room try hard. It is frustrating for all of us, not just as individuals but as a team. Like I said, you can prepare well but the end results are not guaranteed.
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"The seniors are experienced players and we have to help the younger guys as well. So we have to be contributing both in and out of the dressing room, but on the field it is needed more, and it gets frustrating when that bit doesn't happen. So it is nice to contribute and see the score at 560-odd declared," said Bell.
"He is an outstanding batsman. He didn't quite get a good start and that was perhaps because he was thinking too much. But then he started playing the way he does and he looked better. He is someone who can utilise such platforms and give us a move-on.