Ryan ten Doeschate / Ryan ten doeschate / 16 June 2009 / Leave a comment

Having played alongside him for years and roomed with him in Australia, Ryan ten doeschate knows Ravi Boapara better than most and his recent success has come as no surprise to him. Plus his views on why New Zealand are literally on their last legs as the T20 WC continues.

From the time I arrived at Essex you could see there was something special about Ravi Bopara.

We saw another example last night in England's five-wicket defeat to West Indies. His classy 55 in 47 balls helped the hosts to a steady 161. However it did not prove to be enough.

There was no acceleration at the end of the England innings and their only boundaries in the last 10 overs were the two bludgeoned by Stuart Broad off the last two balls. But the way their bowling unit has been working together they could still have defended 161, especially after they got those early wickets. So for me the need for Duckworth-Lewis worked against England.

However, from a personal perspective, I was happy that my pal Ravi had once again lived up to his promise. There has always a lot of hype about him at Chelmsford and certainly Graham Gooch was a big backer of his talent. However when he was younger he did not score a heck of lot of runs and he got out in clumsy ways sometimes. Much has changed since
then.

He first got chosen for England's tour to Sri Lanka in 2007 on the strength of a steady, but not phenomenal, summer. He came back after a relatively poor series and you could see straight away that he was a different character. His approach to the game was very different, more mature. I think he realised what was required.

Now he looks a world-class player. He is definitely one of the best one-day players around and some of his shots against the West Indies last night were superb. Although he looks fine now, I don't think he could really have been chosen for England earlier. I don't think he had quite worked out his game.

A few years ago, Ravi and I spent a summer playing Grade cricket in Perth, Australia. We lived together so I got to know him well. We enjoy the same things and have the same sense of humour. Since then we have spent a lot of time together, talked a lot and now generally stick together. So I have been in a very good position to see him progress and change.

When he is away from the field he is the same guy; very funny, very laid back. But when it comes to cricket he is very focussed now. He knows what is needed and he is so hungry to play at that level. It is not about just getting into the England team anymore, he wants to finally fulfil all the potential everyone said that he had.

Back at the T20 World Cup, we have a play-off for the last Semi-Final spot today. I really thought going in to the tournament that New Zealand were good for the last four and outsiders as winners. They still have a capable team but the injuries have really cost them. Jesse Ryder is out, Brendon McCullum may have to play with a broken finger, Ross Taylor is struggling with a hamstring and Daniel Vettori has had time on the treatment table during the tournament too.

Their opponents today are Sri Lanka, whose top-order batters have done their job so well that the middle-order have not seen much action. Jayasuriya and Dilshan have excelled and Sangakkara has been a great back up. It sounds good news but it can be a problem if you have to rely on Nos 6,7 and 8 to do the work as they did against Ireland. But they are strong in their bowling. I think they have a phenomenal line-up in that area and they are my second favourites behind South Africa now.

As for me, I am back with Essex now and start a Championship game at Kent this morning. Last night we all sat in the hotel bar watching the England game in a win-win situation. We were supporting England but if they lost there was a possibility that we just might have Graham Napier and James Foster in our side. We need them because we are not far from rock bottom right now and even our one-day has not been that good. But with players coming back and having had a little break from Championship cricket, it almost feels like a new start now.