Ravi Bopara's signing 'a statement of intent' by the Steelbacks

The former England all-rounder, who has played an incredible 500 T20 matches in his globetrotting career, put pen to paper on an initial one-year T20 contract with the Steelbacks this week.

The former Essex and Sussex player will be 39 by the time the 2024 Blast tournament starts at the end of May, but Sadler believes he still has an awful lot to offer, both on and off the pitch.

"It is a massive signing for us, and I am delighted to get Ravi," said the head coach.

"He has been our main target for the past two or three months, and we are really happy to get him on board and I am sure he will be a big success.

"He will be great in the dressing room, he brings experience with the bat, the ball and with the fielding, and he also has experience of captaincy and leadership.

"He has played everywhere around the world at the highest level and performed, so it is a great signing for us as a club, and is a statement of intent about the calibre of people we are trying to attract."

Bopara captained Sussex Sharks' T20 side in the past two seasons, and won the tournament with Essex in 2019.

He has also played around the world in a string of franchise tournaments, including the Indian Premier League, the Big Bash League in Australia, the Pakistan Super League, The Hundred and many more.

He has most recently been a team-mate of Steelbacks skipper David Willey in the International League T20, with the pair playing for the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders.

Sadler points to Bopara's international class as being key to them wanting to sign him, and says the fact that he, Willey and new signing George Scrimshaw, who made his England ODI debut last summer, are all set to be in the same team can only be a good thing.

Particularly when you add in the signing of Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza, and one more overseas player as well.

"Compare two years ago to where we are now, and we have potentially got three England players in our team," said the head coach.

"David Willey has retired from internationals but it still absolutely at the top of his game, we have George Scrimshaw who made his England debut last year and we have got Ravi Bopara who has played many games for England over the years.

"He is at the back end of his career now, but he is still an international cricketer.

"You put those three in the mix and then you add in our overseas signing Sikandar Raza, and we still have room for another overseas player.

"All of a sudden it will look a very, very strong side and it is coming together nicely."

So what of the second overseas signing? Sadler says that decision has yet to be finalised.

"We have not decided on exactly who we want to bring in yet,” said the head coach.

"We have three or four lined up, and it just depends on what skillset I think we need.

"With the World Cup going on, and all these leagues around the world, it can be a challenge at times, so we will see."

The Steelbacks begin their Blast campaign on Thursday, May 30 with a home game against Derbyshire Falcons.