SpunOut

I’ve always quite liked young Ravi Bopara (exactly a fortnight older than me, actually), so I’m pleased he’s finally got a Test century. That should, at least, correct his aberrant Test average, which before the current Test stood at a mere 8.40.

Whether making a century on a decent track in Barbados qualifies him to face Australia’s newly potent pace attack in the summer is another matter. Indeed, the role Bopara is being asked to play at the moment may merely be a sort of job-share, a pro-rata part-time Flintoff substitute, with the bowling element of Freddie’s role allocated elsewhere. If that proves to be the case, then once Flintoff returns, Bopara’s may find himself in a difficult situation.

England’s middle order for the Ashes is still not entirely fixed, but on past evidence the selectors are likely to resist radical changes. Therefore, if Shah does well enough to keep his place at number three, and Collingwood continues to make decent scores, then future chances for England’s newest centurion may turn out to be somewhat more limited than he might hope.