Tuesday 13 October 2015 17:23, UK
Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara has signed a two-year contract extension to remain with the county until 2017.
The 30-year-old made his debut for Essex's first XI in 2002 and has been a regular starter for them across all three formats since.
He has scored 9,915 runs in first-class cricket, 8,717 runs in List A matches and 4,066 in T20 contests. With the ball he has taken 181 first-class wickets, 210 List A wickets and claimed 133 T20 victims.
Bopara has also played in 13 Tests, 120 one-day internationals and 38 Twenty20s for England and was part of their World Cup squad earlier this year.
After failing to win promotion in the LV= County Championship this summer, Bopara is backing his former team-mate, Essex's recently-appointed cricket chairman Ronnie Irani, to oversee an upturn in their fortunes.
"I am happy to have signed a new contract," Bopara said.
"The club is making some changes with Ronnie on board. I've played a lot under Ronnie, I know him very well, and I'm trusting him to get things the way we all want here at Essex.
"We're a team that should be competing and performing at a higher level than we are. I think we can achieve that with a couple of new signings and I'm confident that the club will get that right."
