County cricket / England

Ravi Bopara lowers himself from Test cricket to county cricket

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There’s a big step up from county cricket to Test cricket, which means there’s a big step down when you get dropped. Ravi Bopara’s returned to Essex and has promptly made 201 against Surrey.

Essex play in the second division, so it’s no so much a step down as a jump. It’s a good job players are keen to cling onto their Test players by their fingertips as it means there isn’t as far to fall.

The Surrey bowling attack conquered by Ravi Bopara

  • Dernbach
  • Collins
  • Linley
  • Schofield
  • Meaker
  • Spriegel
  • Afzaal

If Bopara was quaking in his boots, it would only be from damage to his knees after falling so far.

If there were a third as many first-class teams, the bowling attacks would be three times as good and the gap wouldn’t be so great.

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Similar deliveries:

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4 comments

  1. But

    If there were a third as many teams, bowlers like Dernbach and Spriegel (though, admittedly not Dernbach and Spriegel) would get far fewer chances to show their lot. Would James Taylor be batting for Leicestershire? Would James Harris be showing promise for Glamorgan? Would Steve Finn even be thought of as a future Harmison replacement?

  2. They’d still be playing some form of cricket and when they were good enough, they’d play first-class cricket.

    They’d have a few chances, but they’d have to make the most of them – much like Test cricket.

  3. Ravi plays in the Second Division, of course, but the world and his thermos flask knows there is a huge gap between even the First Division county cricket and Test cricket. We also ask our players to play far too much cricket.

    We need high quality, competitive domestic cricket – that excites fans and TV execs – and provides a deep pool of talent for the England team. Quality not quantity.

    South Africa AND Australia both play six top teams – and each team plays ten 4-day matches. Those two countries seem to do well on it.

    How about six regions for England.Wales? If we can’t have that then what about three divisions of six teams – with ten First Class matches per year (plus limited over competitions). Given the amount of draws caused by rain in England/Wales, what about a reserve day in case of rain?

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