England must 'stop being so English' - Bopara

Ravi Bopara has claimed "the culture of English cricket" must change if the international side is to enjoy success in global limited-overs events. Bopara, a member of the England squad jettisoned from the World Cup in the group stages, believes the side were inhibited by a "sense of fear" and that they had to "stop being so English" if they were to improve.

In particular, Bopara felt that England's batsmen were never able to bat with the freedom required to prosper in the modern limited-overs game and reasserted is belief that they would benefit from more exposure to foreign T20 leagues such as the IPL.

"We should change our culture," Bopara said. "We should develop braver players and stop fearing. We knew we had to score well above 300 to win games, but we didn't go out and play like that. And I don't think 300 is enough for us, if I'm honest. It may be enough for other teams, but it's not enough for us. We need 350 on the board to win games. So we need to develop our games to that level.

"But there's a sense of fear in the team that we need to get rid of. We need to change the culture and be freer as players, stop worrying about the consequences. We need at times to stop being so English. We are very, very English and it feels quite institutionalised.

"I couldn't tell you how much that six-week period playing in the IPL in 2009 improved my cricket. I felt on top of the world. It was such a positive environment and I came back without any fear and I scored those Test centuries against West Indies. But then you get caught up in the system. Things are a bit cagey. You become the people you're with."

But while Bopara felt most of the problems in English cricket were "institutionalised" he also had some thinly veiled criticism for the team management at the World Cup, suggesting that changes made to selection and plans on the eve of the tournament destabilised the side.

Bopara played for England throughout the tri-series event against Australia and India, but was then dropped for the first game of the World Cup. Indeed, for all the talk of continuity of selection in recent years, Bopara admitted he never felt more than a couple of games from being dropped in his spell in the international team.

"I've been dropped a million times," he said. "If I don't score runs for a couple of games, I can feel it coming. It doesn't help you to play freely at all.

"We were ready to go into the World Cup. We had a settled team, we were quite chilled. We did lose to Australia in the tri-series tournament, but there's no shame in that and we beat India twice. But then all of a sudden things were changed. I was told I was not playing because they weren't going to use my bowling. It felt like there was a fear of failure. You start thinking about negatives; about the bad things that can happen.

"I thought I'd play in the Sri Lanka game. We had lost badly against New Zealand and Australia, so I thought they'd have to make changes. But I had no opportunity to make an impact on the World Cup. None at all. I'd have rather had a shocker than not played. It's so frustrating. I was angry. Very angry.

"When I'm playing for Essex I know I'm not going to be dropped. You know you're not going to get dropped and it's funny as that's the best way to play as you score runs like that and put fear in bowlers.

"I have to start playing like that when I go out and put an England shirt on. That's how I have to play. That's what I have told myself and promised myself I will do from now on. The IPL is perfect place to start."