Former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara has ended an 18-year association with Essex to join Sussex. The 34-year-old announced the latest development on Twitter on Wednesday (October 16).
He had turned down the 2019 T20 Blast champions’ "improved" fresh contract for a move to Sussex with a burning desire to achieve greater things in the wonderful game of cricket.
Bopara told the Sussex website, “It is a great chance to play under a respected and acknowledged coach like Jason Gillespie and with a very strong and talented team of players, many of whom will no doubt go on to receive international honors.”
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The all-rounder continued, “On a personal note I have a burning desire to achieve greater things in this wonderful game. I will now put a greater emphasis on T20 cricket. I am fitter and stronger than I have ever been and playing my best cricket. I want to emphasize that I am not giving up red-ball cricket but I will, for now, play less of it to find time in the calendar year to up-skill in T20 and take my game to a new level as I still have the drive to play international cricket.”
Meanwhile, Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate said of Bopara’s move: “I speak for the team when I say we are very sad to see Rav leave the club after 18 years. Rav has always been extremely popular in the dressing room, combining unbelievable talent, skill, hard work, and a great cricket mind with a friendly, witty and comical demeanor.”
Doeschate signed off by saying, “He's been a great teammate and a fiercely loyal friend. I'm so pleased that he leaves on a high after playing the key role in the club winning our first T20 title. It will be strange to play against him next year, but we wish him all the very best at his new Club.”
Noteworthy, Bopara represented Essex in 499 games across all formats of the game and went on to score 11,148 first-class runs at an average of 42.06 with 101 half-centuries across all formats.
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
