Ravinder Singh Bopara

A talented, wristy strokeplayer, capable of opening the innings or batting in the middle order, Ravi Bopara was a regular member of the England set-up for several years without ever making himself indispensable. Admirers of his laid-back approach to life, and there are many, forever lived in hope that his England career would finish in a blaze of glory, but England's inglorious World Cup campaign in 2015 - and his 120th ODI cap against Afghanistan in Sydney - was where his international story ended.

Bopara believers from that point had to take their satisfaction in county cricket and, at Essex, he scored consistently enough across all formats to be in the top ten of run-scorers worldwide over the previous decade: a statistical challenge, along with his 100-plus appearances in all competitions, to those who regarded his career as unfulfilled.

In 2002, aged 17, Bopara earned a professional contract with Essex and immediately established himself as a name for the future. He made his first-team debut the same year, playing three Championship matches before being picked for the Under-19 World Cup in 2003. Three years later, his county form was rewarded with a place in England's preliminary squad for the 2006 Champions Trophy and the Academy squad to be based in Perth during the winter's Ashes series.

After impressing the selectors, he made his ODI debut against Australia at Sydney, and claimed the wicket of Mike Hussey to help England kick-start their trophy-winning campaign with a 92-run win. A fortnight later at the World Cup in the Caribbean, he showed impressive resolve and class in his maiden one-day fifty against Sri Lanka, albeit in a losing cause. He was one of only a handful of England players to emerge from that tournament with their reputation enhanced, but injury prevented him from building on his success at the inaugural World Twenty20.

Three consecutive hundreds against West Indies in early 2009 rebalanced his ledger, only for a difficult Ashes experience to again cost him his place, and he remained on the fringes of the Test side. His form in limited-overs cricket, where his medium-pace bowling is also a useful option, has been more consistent, with some of his most mature displays coming under the ODI captaincy of his Essex team-mate Alastair Cook.