Bopara is the fifth-highest run-scorer in Blast history and won the competition with Essex, his boyhood club, in 2019. He joined Sussex the following season and signed for Northamptonshire earlier this year on a T20-only contract.

He made a significant impact with bat and ball in the group stages. He was Northants' second-highest run-scorer and third-highest wicket-taker as they finished second in the North Group, reaching the knockout stages for only the second time since their 2016 title and securing a home quarter-final.

They will face Somerset at Wantage Road on September 5, but Bopara has been ruled out. He has undergone surgery after sustaining a finger injury while playing for Miami Lions in the inaugural Max60 tournament in the Cayman Islands, a privately-owned T10 league which is not affiliated to Cricket West Indies and took place last week.

"Bopara ruptured the tendon in a finger on his right hand while attempting a caught-and-bowled," Northants said in a club statement. "[He] has had surgery but will need three weeks of recovery time."