Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Ravinder Singh Bopara
Born May 4, 1985, Forest Gate, London
Current age 23 years 66 days
Major teams England, England Under-19s, Essex, Essex Cricket Board, Marylebone Cricket Club
Nickname Puppy
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Height 5 ft 10 in
Education Brampton Manor School

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

Tests

8.40

57.53

ODIs

459

27.00

687

66.81

T20Is

First-class

120

4099

229

39.41

7988

51.31

List A

106

2592

201*

35.02

Twenty20

482

21.90

394

122.33

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

Tests

156

1/39

81.00

3.11

156.0

ODIs

223

187

2/43

46.75

5.03

55.7

T20Is

First-class

5228

3477

5/75

43.46

3.99

65.3

List A

106

2100

1904

3/13

28.84

5.44

31.8

Twenty20

386

488

3/18

24.40

7.58

19.3

Career statistics

Test debut

Sri Lanka v England at Kandy, Dec 1-5, 2007 scorecard

Last Test

Sri Lanka v England at Galle, Dec 18-22, 2007 scorecard

Test statistics

ODI debut

Australia v England at Sydney, Feb 2, 2007 scorecard

Last ODI

England v New Zealand at Lord's, Jun 28, 2008 scorecard

ODI statistics

Only T20I

England v New Zealand at Manchester, Jun 13, 2008 scorecard

T20I statistics

First-class debut

2002

Last First-class

Essex v Derbyshire at Chelmsford, Jun 29-Jul 2, 2008 scorecard

List A debut

2002

Last List A

Essex v Yorkshire at Chelmsford, Jul 5, 2008 scorecard

Twenty20 debut

Surrey v Essex at East Molesey, Jun 14, 2003 scorecard

Last Twenty20

Essex v Northamptonshire at Chelmsford, Jul 7, 2008 scorecard

Aged 17, Bopara earned a professional contract with Essex in 2002, and he has never looked back. He made his first-team debut the same year, playing three Championship matches before playing for England at the Under-19 World Cup in 2003. A top-order batsman, he can also chip in with some handy medium-pace bowling and he has been maturing with every match.

Bopara, who is nicknamed Puppy, was a late selection for the England A squad in West Indies in 2006, after injuries in England's senior squad left spots to fill. Although unsuccessful in the Caribbean he found form on the county scene and was subsequently rewarded with a place in England's preliminary squad for the 2006 Champions Trophy and the Academy squad to be based in Perth during the winter's Ashes series. After impressing the selectors, he made his ODI debut against Australia at Sydney, and claimed the wicket of Mike Hussey to help England kick-start their trophy-winning campaign with a 92-run win. A fortnight later in the World Cup, showed impressive resolve and class in his maiden one-day fifty against Sri Lanka, albeit in a losing cause. He was one of only a handful of England players to emerge from that tournament with their reputation enhanced, but injury prevented him from building on his success in the World Twenty20. Another encouraging display for England in their one-day series against Sri Lanka in October 2007 led to his call-up to the Test squad for December's series, and he was picked to make his Test debut in the opening match at Kandy ahead of Owais Shah. It was, on reflection, a tour too soon for Bopara who scratched 42 runs in three Tests, and was axed the following January.
Andrew Miller January 2008

Jul 7, 2008

Ravi Bopara top-edges over the slips © Getty Images

Jul 7, 2008

Ravi Bopara shimmies down the pitch and reaches to pull another four © Getty Images

Jun 28, 2008

Ravi Bopara swivels on a pull during his 30 © Getty Images

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