London, Jun 4 (IANS): Former England top-order batter Ian Bell could be in the running for the job of national selector as England men's cricket managing director Rob Key is planning to restore the position, which was controversially abolished by Ashley Giles last year.

Former England managing director Giles had to relinquish his post in the wake of the Joe Root-led side's abysmal performance in the Ashes series in Australia, which the tourists lost 0-4. Giles had abolished the post of national selector as part of a "restructure" of the men's team selection process.

The then England head coach Chris Silverwood was given the responsibility of team selection with national selector Ed Smith's role as national selector abolished.

However, new England managing director Key is keen to restore that position as quickly as possible and 40-year-old Bell, a veteran of 118 Tests and 161 One-day Internationals, has reportedly "emerged as a candidate for the role of Test national selector", according to a report in dailymail.co.uk.

Bell has scored 7,727 runs in Tests and retired from First-class cricket a couple of years back, and has since taken up the role of coaching, having worked with the England Under 19s, county side Derbyshire and has had stints with Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred and Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL), according to the report.

Key is believed to be thinking on the lines of splitting the roles for Test and white-ball cricket, like what he has done with England's coaching setup. While Brendon McCullum has been appointed Test coach, former Australian women's team coach Matthew Mott has been appointed England men's team white-ball coach.