Bopara admits being under pressure by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:	RS Bopara
Event:	Australia in British Isles 2009

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DateLine: 10th August 2009

 

England batsman Ravi Bopara has admitted that he is under tremendous pressure after struggling during the ongoing Ashes series.

 

Bopara had scored three centuries in consecutive Tests against West Indies to firmly establish himself as a solution to England's problem with number three position before the arrival of Australia. But the right-hander has failed to make any significant contribution to his team's cause in all the four Tests of the Ashes, which has led to calls from various quarters for him to be dropped for the final Test at the Oval.

 

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Bopara said: "There is no disguising the pressure I am under and there is nowhere to hide because, in such a massively high-profile series as this and against opponents of the quality of Australia, you have to front up every single day.

 

"It is up to me. No one else can do the batting for me. Just as important for me now is my thinking and my approach. When you are searching for a bit of form, the main danger for a player like me, who likes to go for his shots, is that I might start slipping into survival mode.

 

"I've been guilty of doing that in the past, both in county cricket and when I had that terrible time on my first England tour in Sri Lanka, and it just doesn't work.

 

"If I am given the opportunity at the Brit Oval to respond to my scores of one and a first-ball duck here at Leeds, whatever else I do to break out of this trot, I must remain positive and look to score at every opportunity."

 

Bopara showed his frustration at the lbw decision that sent him back to the pavilion for a first-ball duck in England's second innings at Headingley. Although clearly having got bat on ball, he refused to criticise the officials.