England batsman Ian Bell has fallen victim to a hoax on social networking website Twitter.

Comments from the account of ianbellMBE on the site revealed such insightful nuggets of wisdom as: "I'm glad I'm not a weatherman, batting's hard enough" and "The Ashes big top moves on to Leeds! It's great being part of the circus - as long as I'm more lion tamer than clown!"

However, a statement released by the ECB said: "Remarks have been posted on a Twitter site purporting to be from England batsman Ian Bell.

"These remarks were definitely NOT posted by Ian Bell. They are the work of a hoaxer and should be disregarded."

Earlier in the Ashes series, Australian opening batsman Phil Hughes ran into trouble when he revealed on his Twitter site that he had been axed from the team before an official announcement had been made.