Westley’s Ashes bid is backed by Bopara
Behind the glitz and the hype of Vegas (and daily visits to his new strip club) Mayweather is not treating this fight lightly
TO the untrained eye, Floyd Mayweather is acting like any one of the thousands of tourists visiting the Las Vegas Strip this week.
WEDNESDAY 9pm: Final press conference, KA Theatre, MGM Grand Hotel THURSDAY 8pm: Undercard fighters final press conference (including Nathan Cleverly), David Copperfield Theatre, MGM Grand FRIDAY 9.30pm: Weigh-in begins, T-Mobile Arena 11pm: Mayweather and McGregor on the scales SATURDAY/SUNDAY 10pm: T-Mobile Arena doors open 2am: TV presentation begins 5am: (approx) Mayweather and McGregor in the ring ENGLAND’S latest No.3 has been told to relax and take the pressure off by a teammate who has been there and learned the hard way.
Tom Westley is searching for the score that will book his place on the plane to Australia after a mixed trio of performances in the top order at the start of his Test career.
A promising start against South Africa with a 50 at the Oval was followed by a shakier couple of games to leave him hungry for the runs that will show his technique is up to the task at the highest level.
And Essex team-mate Ravi Bopara, who also batted at three against the Windies before facing the Aussies in 2009, is in no doubt that the runs will come for Westley.
“I’m confident Tom will get a big score over the next two games in this series,” said Bopara.
“The only problem he might have is that he probably won’t get two innings in each game.
“Tom has to get that score to feel that bit more comfortable going into the Ashes to give himself a bit more breathing space.
“I know Tom and he is the type of person who will put pressure on himself to do well. He wants to be successful and he’s got that desperation in him.
“The key is to try to take that pressure off, relax and just play the game. You have to remember why you started playing cricket and just enjoy yourself, the runs will come.”
Bopara went into the Ashes on the back of three hundreds against the West Indies away and at home, but that confidence soon fell away as the pressure came on.
“After the first Test I didn’t get a very good response from coach Andy Flower and I put a lot of pressure on myself after that,” remembered Bopara.
“I made life very difficult for myself. I’d blame myself for the pressure I put on. You have to find a way.”