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England, on a wicket which seemed to grow livelier as the day wore on, produced a disjointed overall batting effort on .

So it was vital that Bopara, who has been earmarked for a big future in international cricket for a long time, fired.

This is the man who so that they offered him a professional deal at the age of 17.

Having just turned 24, he has already appeared in 38 one-day internationals, but has not fully found his feet in the 50-over stuff, where he has scored only four fifties. Frankly, the suspicion has always been that he is better suited to the longer format.

The first ball Bopara faced on Wednesday was almost edged to the wicketkeeper, nerves having presumably rooted his feet to the crease.

He was then given three easy sighters by Fidel Edwards which he could happily leave outside off-stump before a little leg-stump half-volley was smoothly put away.

But his second boundary showed he was adapting well to the conditions, middling his off-drive despite outswing on the delivery from Jerome Taylor. It certainly helped that he began his innings batting with Alastair Cook, a team-mate at so many levels, most memorably when .

Either side of lunch, it was the spin of Sulieman Benn which provided Bopara with his most profitable scoring avenue.

He had his moments of fortune in the afternoon, surviving an lbw shout on 40, and dropped catches on 76 and 100. But what was most impressive was how he continued to accumulate runs at an even rate, with some deft leg-glancing, the occasional drive and finally one disdainful lofted boundary off Chris Gayle - taking him to 118 not out at stumps.

Meeting Bopara at the ICC World Twenty20 squad announcement last Friday, I asked him to sum up the challenges of the number three position in Test cricket.

He thought for a minute, and then chuckled as though aware that what he was about to say might sound arrogant: "I've been told that the best batter always bats at three. I don't know if I'm the best batsman at the moment - you've got people like Kevin Pietersen in the side, and Paul Collingwood and the two openers as well, fantastic players, but I've been given this opportunity and want to grab it with both hands."

His first three Tests came in Sri Lanka in 2007-08, where he was a bundle of nerves, recording three ducks in five innings and a top score of 34.

Then, in his only appearance in the Caribbean, he hit 104 in Barbados. Reflecting on the transformation after the Sri Lankan woes he said: "I had a feeling that in the last couple of years I'd scored runs in county cricket and that you should just go out and express yourself, don't have a care in the world... to feel 'this is what you've always wanted as a youngster, don't make it an unpleasant experience'."

I caught up with Radio 5 Live analyst Alec Stewart at the tea break, when Bopara was on 72, and asked him for his thoughts on the new number three's innings.

"As a strokemaker he's up there with the top players," said the former wicketkeeper-batsman. "He was bound to be nervous early on but he has settled down really well and has the opportunity to make a really big score."

"When you're the man in possession it's down to you to make the runs. Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell and Owais Shah have had that opportunity, now it's Ravi's turn. He's taken some time getting in, and lined the ball up on off stump as he should but he's good enough to score reasonably quickly, and has done well."

Bopara's idol is , and there are similarities in each man's style. Both are more stockily-built than the average Test batsman, both are compact right-handers who try to play the ball as late as possible.

There are differences, of course. Tendulkar's unfailing modesty can be matched by few top international cricketers, whereas Bopara's calm body language belies a bubbling inner confidence.

It is perhaps silly to compare almost anyone with Tendulkar. The Indian superstar already had 11 centuries to his name by the time he had reached Bopara's age. But at a time when English cricket is at an uncertain cross-roads, there is no harm in thinking positively.