Bopara, who was released by Sussex at the end of last season, was crucial to the Essex side that won the tournament in 2019, having made his competition debut in its first year as the Twenty20 Cup in 2003
Former England allrounder Ravi Bopara has signed for Northamptonshire ahead of this year's T20 Blast.
Bopara, who was released by Sussex at the end of last season, was crucial to the Essex side that won the tournament in 2019.
The 38-year-old captained Sussex in the competition but left following the club's failure to reach the knockout stages. Tymal Mills is now set to captain Paul Farbrace's side.
The Cricketer understands that there was interest in Bopara from several counties, including at least two others in the North Group. After making his debut in the inaugural Twenty20 Cup in 2003, this will be the first time that Bopara has played outside of the South Group; indeed, he has never played a T20 fixture against Durham in his 22-year professional career, nor has he ever played a T20 match at Wantage Road.
"I'm really happy to have joined Northamptonshire for the T20’s this year," said Bopara.
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Bopara was fundamental in Essex's title-winning season (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
"I felt great in the Blast last year and my game is in a really good place at the moment, I'm looking forward to joining the Steelbacks and putting on a show for the fans at Wantage Road."
He brings enormous experience to a squad that lost two-time Blast final player of the match Josh Cobb over the winter; Bopara has scored 9,106 runs in the shortest format, with 277 wickets.
Only Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Shoaib Malik, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, David Miller and Chris Gayle have appeared in more T20 fixtures than Bopara, who will pass Gayle on that list during the Blast.
Northamptonshire head coach John Sadler called Bopara "a phenomenal signing for us".
He’s been an incredible performer across all formats for many years and brings a huge presence on and off the field."
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