Bopara's defining moment has arrived

London: The England No 3 Ravi Bopara with a 'nice sort of arrogance' is relaxed as he prepares for The Ashes

There is a physical education teacher in London, Philip Dawes, for whom the extraordinary deeds of Ravi Bopara are not the stuff of excited chatter. Dawes, who taught Bopara for four years at Brampton Manor School, receives breathless bulletins concerning England's No 3 batsman with wisdom's slow smile.

"He was a different shape then, round and chubby with puppy fat," he recalls. "But he was a lovely lad, never a problem, and not too much has changed. Even at 13 he was very impressive, very unusual. He had these leadership qualities. He was always helping out younger boys. He was obviously well brought up, confident and very honest but respectful, not cocky.

"By the time he was 15 he was incredible. This is not a cricket school. It has a big football history. But he won the 40-over Essex Cup almost single-handedly, captaining the side and scoring a big hundred to beat Graham Gooch's old school, Norlington, in the final."

Brampton Manor did not even have a cricket team when Bopara arrived. The player recalls: "I asked if we could play cricket and the answer was yes, if I could get some guys together. So we organised our own school team.

Sir Robin Wales, the mayor of the borough of Newham, where most of the 2012 Olympic Games will take place, said recently: "From an early age at Brampton Manor it was always obvious that Ravi was destined for great things."

Bopara, however, had fixed his mind on cricket many years before he attended Brampton Manor. From the age of seven or eight he would rush home from school at three in the afternoon, change in a hurry and dash out, climbing over gates to play tapeball cricket in a small local playground.

That is the sort of intensity of desire Australia's bowlers will be up against in Cardiff next week.

According to Bopara's England team-mate Paul Collingwood, he returned from the recent Indian Premier League tournament in South Africa, where he played for Kings XI Punjab, a different player. "Ravi came back a new man," the Durham batsman said. "Looking at the way he's holding himself at the moment, he's very calm. He just knows his game so well."

Now, as he prepares for a defining moment in his career, it is surprising to learn that this cricket-obsessed individual was oblivious to the unique importance of the Ashes until 2005.

As the owner of two Rottweilers, Bopara should be able to muzzle the sledgers in the Australian side in the coming series. His ability to get away from the game especially when you remember that he is such an obsessive about it is impressive. He loves music too. And friends who don't know too much about cricket.

Ravi Bopara might soon discover that he has many more friends.