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LONDON (Reuters) - Three consecutive ducks in his first three tests were the worst of times for Ravi Bopara. Centuries in his last three test innings are the best.

Through both early failure and recent success, England's new number three has tried to keep sport and life in perspective.

"I work very hard on the player I want to be (but) I didn't think too much about what happened in Sri Lanka. I didn't change a lot," he told reporters recently.

"I just try to enjoy it. You can put pressure on yourself and make too much fuss about it. I think it's important you go out and enjoy yourself. When you're a kid you don't worry about anything."

Bopara, who was dropped after scoring 42 runs in his first five test innings against Sri Lanka, seized the moment in the Caribbean this year when Andrew Flintoff flew home injured.

Selected at number six for the Barbados test, Bopara responded with 104. He was dropped for the next test when the selectors opted to play an extra bowler and keep faith with Owais Shah.

True to his philosophy, Bopara remained upbeat and was rewarded by winning selection ahead of Shah, Ian Bell and Michael Vaughan in the problematic number three spot for the opening test against West Indies at Lord's in the return series.

ULTIMATE CHALLENGE

Bopara came to the crease with Fidel Edwards at his fiery best. He survived a venomous first ball and went on to bat with increasing authority to score 143.

He followed up with 108 in the second test in Durham to become only the fifth Englishman to score three test centuries in a row.

In the Twenty20 tournament that followed, Bopara and Kevin Pietersen were the only England batsmen to live up to their reputations and now he faces the ultimate challenge in a key batting spot against Australia.

Shane Warne, still the master of psychological warfare in retirement, has suggested that Bopara may not be up to the challenge.

The former Australia leg-spinner said Bopara was "not an international cricketer" and was "someone who's too worried about how he looks".

Warne's comments imply that Bopara, an open admirer of the great Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, is more concerned with style than runs.

It is a criticism that Bopara emphatically rejects, although he knows the most effective riposte will be to bring his form against West Indies into the Ashes series, which starts next Wednesday.

"Over the last couple of months I've earned my place on the team," he said. "I've always wanted to bat in the top order for my country. To do it against the best in the world will be a great challenge for me."