Indian Premier League

Bopara still tempted by IPL

Andrew Miller

May 21, 2008

	Thanks, but no thanks: Ravi Bopara has his sights trained firmly on England © Getty Images

Bopara endured a chastising run of Test form during his maiden series in Sri Lanka last winter, scoring 42 runs in three matches including ducks in each of his last three innings in Colombo and Galle. He was not required for the tour of New Zealand that followed, but has launched himself back into the reckoning with 416 runs at 104 in three first-class matches for Essex this season.

"The series in Sri Lanka didn't go how I wanted it to go, I'm the first to admit," said Bopara. "But that's made me a better player now. I went back home and worked on some things I knew I had to work on, and I can see the changes already. I'm glad it's happened and happened this early in my career."

One man in the Essex set-up who could sympathise with Bopara was his batting mentor, Graham Gooch, who famously made a pair on debut against Australia in 1975, before going on to become England's leading runscorer in Test cricket, with 8900 runs in a 20-year career. "I spoke to Graham, and he said if you go through your bad times now you become a better cricketer at a younger age," said Bopara. "I agree fully with him."

And yet, Bopara's loss of form did not affect his reputation as a player with bags of potential. Last month, he hit the headlines with his decision to turn down a six-figure IPL contract - a decision that was welcomed by the England & Wales Cricket Board. And yet, should a similar offer arise next year, Bopara might not dismiss it out of hand.

"The decision I made this time around was just based on what I wanted to do this season," he said. "I understood that the team was going to pick itself for the beginning of the summer, unless there were injuries, because we won in New Zealand and the batters did well. To get back in that team I had to play four-day cricket for Essex and I didn't want to miss any games. The decision was a gut feeling and it wasn't too hard to make really."

Next year, however, it might be a different story. "I don't know what my decisions will be in the future, and I think it's too early to look at it now," he said. "I look only at today or tomorrow, and I've been busy with my own stuff, but the tournament looks good fun. The pitches are tiny, so people are half-hitting the ball for six!"

Bopara's first target this summer is a recall to the England one-day squad for the series against New Zealand in June, and to that end he has been working hard on his bowling, in particular his armoury of slower balls. "I'll never have the pace to outpace any batters, so I have to be more skilful," he said. "I am optimistic, because I've had a good start to one-day cricket so far, but I'm not looking too far ahead.

"I'm very hungry, very thirsty for runs," he said. "I want to get back into that England side and I'd do anything to do that. But for the moment, I'm just concentrating on what we can do with Essex. We want to win a one-day trophy, and we want to get promotion in four-day cricket. That's all that I am aiming for."

Bopara was speaking at the Royal Exchange in the City of London, at the launch of the Big Run Chase, a fundraising scheme for the Chance to Shine project, which is helping regenerate cricket in state schools across the country. "It's nice to be outside in the summer, with the kids running around," said Bopara. "Cricket taught me to be who I am, and it's good for kids, especially around London, to have something to focus on."

Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo

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