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Bopara back where he belongs

Ravinder Bopara fully exposed the ludicrous decision of batting him at number 10 while playing a match-winning innings at The Oval last weekend.

He had started the county's Twenty20 campaign down in the tail end but thankfully, sense quickly prevailed and by the time the match with Surrey took place, the talented all-rounder had been restored to a leading front line role.

At The Oval, when coming in at the fall of the second wicket, the 21-year-old showed what an exciting talent he is with a 46-ball innings that saw him strike 83 delightful runs as Essex beat Surrey by four wickets and earn his side their third successive win in this season's Twenty20 Cup.

In the first round of matches, Manor Park-based Ravi inexplicably found himself demoted against Kent, a match in which Essex were thrashed as they adopted a policy of sending in a variety of so called pinch-hitters in front of him.

Against Surrey, he confirmed that it is possible to tear attacks apart with orthodox strokeplay rather than taking a gamble with hit and hope sloggers.

It completed a spell of good news for the talented all-rounder who, 48 hours earlier, was named in the England A side for the game against Pakistan at Canterbury this week and he will be joined by county colleague Alastair Cook, who recently made his one-day international debut against Sri Lanka.

Congratulations are also in order for Varun Chopra, the young opener who has burst upon the Championship scene with great success.

The youngster, who was given his chance when Cook was called up by England for their Test and one-day series with Sri Lanka, has been named captain of the England Under-19 squad for the three-match Test series against India and one-day international battles.

It is no more than he deserves after the impact he has made since being handed his Championship debut for Essex last month.

Then, still short of his nineteenth birthday, he became the youngest batsman to mark his first Championship match with a century and followed it up with 50 in the second innings.

Switching back to the Twenty20 Cup, Essex complete their group programme with a visit to Sussex next Tuesday.

Hopefully by then, they will not only have made sure of their place in the quarter-finals, but also be assured of a home tie.

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