Bopara moves up a class

Ravi Bopara averaged 60 with the bat for Essex in the County Championship this summer

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Ravi Bopara will have no trouble making the step up to Test level, according to county team-mate James Foster.

Essex all-rounder Bopara was one of four uncapped players named in the England squad for the tour of Sri Lanka which gets under way next week.

He was called up on the back of a string of impressive performances in the one-day side, and is pushing for a place in the Test team for the first Test in Kandy starting on December 1.

Bopara, 22, has won many admirers during his brief international career - he made his limited-overs debut little more than nine months ago - and heads to Sri Lanka on the back of an exceptional season in domestic cricket in which he averaged 60 with the bat.

“Ravi has just been different class the last couple of years,” said Essex wicket-keeper Foster, a man who has seen Bopara develop from a precociously talented teenager into one of the most reliable batsmen in the England one-day team.

“He has always been a quality player, but the last couple of years he has become a lot more consistent,” Foster told ecb.co.uk.

“He did well last year, got picked by England, and showed everyone how good he was at the World Cup.

“I’m thrilled he’s been picked for the Test team, and if he gets given the chance I’m sure he’ll do excpetionally well.”
Bopara’s stock has risen almost from the moment he pulled on an England shirt.

Bopara has done little wrong since making his England one-day debut early this year

A valiant half-century in only his fourth innings took England to the brink of victory in the World Cup against Sri Lanka, and he engineered a remarkable triumph over India in the NatWest Series at Old Trafford this summer courtesy of a record unbroken stand of 99 for the eighth wicket with Stuart Broad.

The most notable feature of both innings was Bopara’s composure, an attribute all the more staggering given his tender years.

“He’s so calm in pressure situations,” added Foster. “He’s so confident in his own ability, but without being arrogant.

“He’s really blossomed in the last year or two, and he makes it look so easy sometimes when he’s batting.”

Bopara, whose ability to manipulate the ball into the gaps has made him an invaluable member of the England one-day side, also bowls useful medium pace and is one of the most athletic fielders in the country.

No less a judge than Justin Langer, the former Australia opener and current Somerset captain, reckons Bopara is the best young batsman in England.

“Coming from such a legend of the game, that shows you how good Ravi is,” said Foster. “He is phenomenal.

“I know what a marvellous player he is, and he’s getting better.”