Ravi Bopara Retires on a High But is Raring for the Real Thing
Ravi Bopara and Paul Collingwood both hit half-centuries for an England XI side against Warwickshire in an Ashes warm-up game
Andrew Flintoff was late on parade again this afternoon. But panic not. When England finally took to the field after tea Flintoff and Graeme Swann trotted on after the completion of the first over and there was not the hint of an apology from either of them. Denied any batting practice in the middle they had just returned from a tea-time net. So all was well.
The morning session was lost to rain, but when play started at 2.15pm it was not any more uplifting. England continued batting until tea with Ravi Bopara reaching a century before going into the score book with an entry that any avaricious batsman finds hard to bear: "Retired Out". "It has been a good little run in to the first Test", said Bopara. "The boys got a hit and the bowlers bowled well and look on fire. Happy all round. There's nothing better as a cricketer spending time out in the middle."
Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior hit half-centuries against a side that now looked utterly fed up with being stooges. Jonathan Trott bowled his gentle medium-pacers for an hour and the 17-year-old Aqeel Javid propelled a few overs of off-spin that made Marcus North and Nathan Hauritz look like Jim Laker.
The only slightly puzzling aspect was that Flintoff was not permitted a bat in the middle. Maybe he does not qualify for such a luxury now that he occupies the lower middle-order.
After tea England came out to bowl a dozen overs. Stuart Broad, wicketless in the first innings, disposed of Ian Westwood. Jim Troughton was left stranded in mid-pitch by Trott and young Javid's tiny CV as a first-class cricketer was decorated by being dismissed by Flintoff, caught at slip.
Then, to general bemusement and a few boos from the few spectators in the stands, the players shook hands at five o'clock and wandered off. It had not been much of spectacle – few runs from Kevin Pietersen or Flintoff in the match and not even any mis-fields from Monty Panesar to cheer. At no stage did the Warwickshire players give the impression that they were overjoyed to be given the opportunity to play against their national team.
But for the England players the game had just about served its purpose. They have spent some time together and have reunited with their white shirts and red balls.
Bopara probably spoke for everyone, punters, players – and pressmen – when he said: "The lads just want to get on with it now. There has been enough build-up and we just want to get stuck in and hope that when Wednesday comes along, we get going."
The morning session was lost to rain, but when play started at 2.15pm it was not any more uplifting. England continued batting until tea with Ravi Bopara reaching a century before going into the score book with an entry that any avaricious batsman finds hard to bear: "Retired Out". "It has been a good little run in to the first Test", said Bopara. "The boys got a hit and the bowlers bowled well and look on fire. Happy all round. There's nothing better as a cricketer spending time out in the middle."
Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior hit half-centuries against a side that now looked utterly fed up with being stooges. Jonathan Trott bowled his gentle medium-pacers for an hour and the 17-year-old Aqeel Javid propelled a few overs of off-spin that made Marcus North and Nathan Hauritz look like Jim Laker.
The only slightly puzzling aspect was that Flintoff was not permitted a bat in the middle. Maybe he does not qualify for such a luxury now that he occupies the lower middle-order.
After tea England came out to bowl a dozen overs. Stuart Broad, wicketless in the first innings, disposed of Ian Westwood. Jim Troughton was left stranded in mid-pitch by Trott and young Javid's tiny CV as a first-class cricketer was decorated by being dismissed by Flintoff, caught at slip.
Then, to general bemusement and a few boos from the few spectators in the stands, the players shook hands at five o'clock and wandered off. It had not been much of spectacle – few runs from Kevin Pietersen or Flintoff in the match and not even any mis-fields from Monty Panesar to cheer. At no stage did the Warwickshire players give the impression that they were overjoyed to be given the opportunity to play against their national team.
But for the England players the game had just about served its purpose. They have spent some time together and have reunited with their white shirts and red balls.
Bopara probably spoke for everyone, punters, players – and pressmen – when he said: "The lads just want to get on with it now. There has been enough build-up and we just want to get stuck in and hope that when Wednesday comes along, we get going."
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