Bopara takes his chance with century

England pushed on to a large total today, with Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara to the fore.  Collingwood fell agonizingly for 96 attempting to reach his hundred with a boundary, but Bopara made no such mistake as he moved to his 1st test century in his 4th match.

Bopara’s success increases the options of the selectors with Ian Bell having been dropped after a run of poor form.  This can only be good for the team as we have known for some time that the batting lineup was too inclusive even when players were not performing.  Some competition for places will hopefully provide a healthy nudge for the other players in the team.

Whilst we can only wonder for now how he will fare on more challenging pitches against more threatening bowling attacks, it is good to see new faces performing well.  However, I fear for our chances of taking 20 wickets in this match if West Indies apply the same discipline we saw in the 2nd innings at Antigua…