Ravi runs away with it

Phenomenal. That's about the only way to describe Ravi Bopara's blistering double hundred against Leicestershire in the Friends Provident Trophy. I'd just tuned in to BBC Essex's streaming commentary when Ravi cleared the ropes for the tenth time, bringing up his 200 with one ball of Essex's innings remaining. This was astonishing not only because there have only ever been a handful of limited-over double hundreds, but also due to the fact that Ravi had reached a mere 150 about five overs beforehand, when I belatedly checked the score for the first time.

I remember noting Ravi's innings of 83 from 46 balls against Surrey in the Twenty20 Cup in my 2006 season review for Third Umpire. As luck would have it, Essex's next one day fixture will be at Surrey in the T20, and I'll be sitting in the Oval bleachers again, hoping for more of the same. There have been no less than forty hundreds scored in T20 competition, the highest being one of the most recent - Brendon McCullum's ferocious 158 not out in the IPL - so it's not beyond the realms of fantasy that the Eagles could be rocket-propelled towards another big total by Centurion Bopara; though another double looks unlikely.

As the BBC Essex commentators mulled the significance of Ravi's pyrotechnically accomplished knock, they immediately projected forward to him scoring bucketloads of runs in the one-dayers against New Zealand, and then doubtless returning to the Test side to face the Saffers. Caution should be preached, for now, as he has already received caps in both forms of the game, and ended up departing with them in hand. However, with such undoubted aggression, and his wristy, punchy stroke play, there's every reason to hope - particularly while England's middle order continues to suffer so excruciatingly...