The Bopara Ultimatum

Should the serial underperformer be dropped?

In a career of remarkable highs and lows, Ravi Bopara is still yet to fulfill his true potential. After five years of bewildering inconsistency and disappointment, is it time to end his stuttering international career once and for all?

While still only aged 28, Bopara has many future years to improve his game. Nevertheless, having already been given countless chances to stake a permanent claim in the England team, I can’t help but feel that this player will never reach his peak.

Friday evening was a particularly drab occasion for the Essex batsman. His contribution of an unbeaten 23 may seem respectable but it did nothing to prevent the team’s defeat and continuing poor displays. Moreover, despite the national side’s batting order looking extremely fragile since Kevin Pietersen unceremonious ejection, Bopara still only arrived at the crease as the number seven; a position normally reserved for wicketkeepers or all-rounders.

An improved performance in the second match of the series saw him achieve another unbeaten score, this time proving decisive in a narrow victory. But his role was again relegated to the number seven spot despite half of the top six being dismissed in single figures.

Each of the preceding batsmen, though, has far less experience at the highest level. Luke Wright comes closest to rivalling Bopara’s 101 ODI caps with a distant 50 to his name.

Nor has the recent match against the West Indies been a one-off. Time and again he has been left to bat with the tail after yet another middle order collapse. The implication of this strategy is clear: the team management simply does not rate him with any confidence.

So if Ashley Giles and his colleagues don’t consider Bopara good enough for a leading role in the side, why is he repeatedly selected for ODI matches? Some commentators claim it is because the once-promising talent has the ability to bowl a few overs without getting slogged out of the ground. Personally, I don’t buy that argument. Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Luke Wright all provide some form of part-time bowling options. If these four players can competently perform this dual role then Bopara remains surplus to requirements.

Rather than naming yet another bits-and-bobs player, his place in the side could be better filled by someone in a specialist role such as Graham Onions or James Taylor.

In previous years I have been able to tolerate all these problems but with England on a terrible run of results it is perhaps time to stop supplying seasoned performers with any more chances. After all, averaging a sub-standard 32 cannot contribute to sustained success. Sorry Ravi, but after a century of caps the chance to prove your value is now or never.