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Paul McNamara

One of franchise cricket’s leading guns for hire, Ravi Bopara, said he “did not like how the 50-over game had been treated” amid the global proliferation of short-form tournaments.
Bopara, a former England Test and white-ball international, has played for T20 and T10 teams in a host of countries, including India, Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa and Bangladesh.
This weekend he was on the move again, having flown from the United States, where he was part of Chicago’s team in the 10-over National Cricket League, to play for England in the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes.
Now a gun for hire, Bopara made his 120 one-day international appearances between 2007 and 2015, when 50-over cricket retained its importance and kudos.
England sent a young team to the West Indies for an ongoing one-day series, while the formerly blue-riband English domestic 50-over competition has been relegated to a development tournament.

“I really don’t like the way 50-over cricket has been treated, I see some of the scores and the standard, and the diminished 50-over competition [in England] and find it sad,” Bopara told the Post.
“There was a time when 50-over cricket was very tough, you’d be playing against world-class players and it was a real test of your skills.
“I would love to see a major 50-over competition again. Playing for Essex, it was such an important thing in our year and reaching a Lord’s final was always a major target.”
Bopara has played four successive seasons for London Spirit in The Hundred, the divisive tournament parachuted into the height of the English summer by cricket chiefs seeking to generate revenue, and interest among new fans, after being beaten to the T20 punch by the all-powerful Indian Premier League, despite that format being an English creation.
While Bopara had no issue with the timing of the tournament, which splits the County Championship season and squeezes the English Test summer, he voiced concerns that unless salaries were raised, the tournament would die a slow death.

“It’s been good commercially, but the players are still getting used to it,” Bopara said. “I don’t think anyone has worked it out...and I’ll be interested to see where it goes, because it is competing with a lot of other leagues.
“I know some guys are not coming [in 2025], because the money is not as good as in other competitions. It’s a short career and you need to earn your money. You don’t know when it will be over, you can get one injury and your career is gone.”
The 39-year-old said he never envisaged T20 cricket growing so exponentially when it was launched in 2003, one year after his first-class debut as a 17-year-old in 2002.
“The number of teams and leagues is extending careers, there are so many chances to play,” he said. “Some of the guys are 40+ but they are still very handy and, quite often [in franchise tournaments], it’s an older team that wins them.
“There is something in the calendar every month, I am on the treadmill and that is where I want to be.”
Bopara has played 478 non-international T20 matches and wants to “go well past 500”.
He has 9,486 runs and 291 wickets and is aiming to pass 10,000 and 300, respectively, as well as wanting the 155 more runs he needs to surpass 10,000 in non-international 50-over cricket.
“I still love playing and have more goals I want to achieve,” Bopara added. “It has been a brilliant experience in Hong Kong, it is a great place and we have tried to put on a show.”


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Cricket

Ravi Bopara still going strong at 39 and has number of significant milestones he wants to pass before calling it a day


Ravi Bopara still going strong at 39 and has number of significant milestones he wants to pass before calling it a day.


Hong Kong Cricket Sixes

England star Bopara laments demise of 50-over cricket, fears loss of The Hundred

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ravi Bopara still going strong at 39 and has number of significant milestones he wants to pass before calling it a day

Ravi Bopara still going strong at 39 and has number of significant milestones he wants to pass before calling it a day