Cricket: Bopara knows what he's doing next summer

England international Ravi Bopara and his Auckland team-mates will face Northern Districts in the one-day final today. Photo / Getty Images

Ravi Bopara hopes that he's not back in New Zealand playing cricket next summer.

It's not that he doesn't like the country. He's had a good time in his short stint as Auckland's overseas player.

The reason he doesn't want to return is that he hopes it means he's playing for England during the Ashes tour of Australia at the end of the year.

He's desperate to be back in England's test team.

Not that long ago, Bopara was talked about as England's "batting star" of the future.

Initially it seemed his star was shining brightly.

The 24-year-old was picked by Andy Flower on a "hunch" in 2007 because of his talent and passion and he repaid the England coach by scoring centuries in three successive tests against the West Indies.

But then the Aussies arrived. The runs dried up so badly for the No 3 batsman (105 runs in four tests) that he was dropped for the deciding test in favour of Jonathan Trott, who scored a century on debut. He hasn't been sighted since.

Auckland seemed like a good place for Bopara to get away, clear his head and, hopefully, score a bucketload of runs to convince Flower to give him a second chance.

He has scored runs but probably not enough of them to demand a recall just yet.

"I came over to play some cricket during the winter," Bopara says.

"I had the option of playing for the [England] A team [over the northern winter] but I wanted to get away and do something on my own. I wanted to experience playing somewhere else. It's been good. I have enjoyed it.

"I have had my moments, good and bad. The four-dayers didn't go the way I wanted them to with the bat. I had some rusty dismissals, the sort of dismissals you get when you haven't played competitive cricket for a while. But as I got into it, I got better and my rhythim got better. Overall it's been a good couple of months for me."

It all ends today, however. Bopara returns briefly to England after today's one-day final against Northern Districts at Colin Maiden Park before heading to India to play for Punjab in the third instalment of the IPL - assuming it goes ahead.

He isn't concerned about security in India despite recent warnings from groups linked to Al Qaeda even though others like Shane Warne are questioning their involvement.

"At the moment it seems safe enough for me," he says casually. "No one has told me not to go. There haven't been any urgent messages sent out to me about not going so, obviously, it can't be that bad."

Certainly not bad enough to jeopardise the US$450,000 he stands to collect as England's third-most expensive player in the IPL behind Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.

Bopara will take some decent form with him to India. He occupies fifth on the domestic MVP table thanks largely to the 434 runs at 54.25 he's scored for Auckland in the one-day competition.

Sadly his only century, the 102 he scored against Central Districts, was overshadowed by CD coach Dermot Reeve accusing him of ball tampering during the game. Bopara was incensed, saying Reeve "must be going mad", and threatened to sue. He was later vindicated when Reeve was fined $750 and censured for his comments.

Today's final at Colin Maiden Park is hoped to provide its own fireworks. Auckland go into the match having thrashed ND at the same venue last weekend but Northern won the two previous matches between the two sides.

"We are really confident," Bopara says. "We have played some seriously good one-day cricket this season.

"When it has really mattered, we have pulled the performances out of the bag. There were a couple of games that were dead for us, when we were through [to the finals] and that affected the team. But this is a big game and we are very confident."

Bopara admitted, though, to feeling a little uneasy when he arrived in Auckland.

"There is an expectation as an overseas player," he says. "I'm only 24 and it's my first time overseas. I did feel like I was expected to perform from ball one. But the lads haven't made me feel like I have had to do that. They said, 'just go out and do what you do'.

"I hope I don't come back [next summer]. I want to be involved with England. But if there's nothing on and I'm not picked then, definitely, I would love to come back and hopefully improve on my performances from this year."