England batsman Ravi Bopara admits he is feeling the pressure of trying to hold onto his Test place for the Ashes finale at The Oval.
Bopara has struggled at number three and his misery has been compounded in the current fourth Test at Headingley, where he has managed only one run in two innings as England crash towards defeat.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Bopara said: “There is no disguising the pressure I am under and there is nowhere to hide because, in such a massively high-profile series as this and against opponents of the quality of Australia, you have to front up every single day.
“It is up to me. No one else can do the batting for me.
“Just as important for me now is my thinking and my approach.
“When you are searching for a bit of form, the main danger for a player like me, who likes to go for his shots, is that I might start slipping into survival mode.
“I’ve been guilty of doing that in the past, both in county cricket and when I had that terrible time on my first England tour in Sri Lanka, and it just doesn’t work.”
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