England all-rounder Ravi Bopara has turned down a lucrative offer to play in the Indian Premier League in a bid to win a regular place in the national side.

Established Test stars like Kevin Pietersen and Ryan Sidebottom have declared their interest in participating in future years. Unlike them, however, Bopara is not centrally contracted to the England and Wales Cricket Board and would be free to pursue a deal with one of the eight IPL franchises if an agreement was reached with his county Essex.

But the 23-year-old has rejected a six-figure contract, from an unnamed side, although it is unclear for how long the deal was meant to run.

Bopara said: "Of course, when figures like these are put in front of you it is tempting. But my goal is to play regularly for England, so if I continue to score runs and take wickets for Essex then I will, hopefully, play for England this summer and for many years to come.

"If I do this, and with the current talk of new competitions and one-off matches to sit alongside the IPL, then I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy financial benefits."

Bopara made his Test debut in Sri Lanka during the winter before being discarded for the New Zealand tour after three Test appearances.

But he is seen as a key part of the one-day set-up and his decision to snub the IPL has gone down well with the ECB.

Geoff Miller, England's chief selector, was pleased to hear of Bopara's decision. He said: "I am looking for as much loyalty and passion as possible from people who are in with a shout of playing for England.

"I'm delighted to hear Ravi's comments. We understand the draw that's coming from India, and there may be one or two other players approached, but if they feel they have a chance of playing for England let's hope they feel the same way."

Hampshire skipper Dimitri Mascarenhas is England's only representative in the big-money Twenty20 competition, having been signed for £50,000, but he has yet to play a game.

Mark Ramprakash might have been another. At the start of the season Rajasthan approached him to play three games, but Surrey persuaded him to not to go. The former England batsman has since taken his first-class century tally to 99, but he is considering playing in the IPL next year.

Bopara has scored 341 runs in three County Championship innings and also tops the team's bowling averages, with six wickets at an average of 18.

Meanwhile, Bopara's Essex teammate Alastair Cook has warned England that New Zealand are shaping up to be tough opponents all over again.

Cook was made to graft for three hours at Chelmsford for a welcome half-century but could not prevent the under-strength Kiwis from beating Essex by 92 runs.

The visitors achieved their success even though captain and front-line spinner Daniel Vettori was unable to bowl in the second innings because of a finger injury.

Cook said: "New Zealand are a highly competitive outfit and give nothing away. It's going to be another tough series. Hopefully, we can do the double over them but we can't just walk into the series expecting to do it because that's when trouble happens.

"South Africa [this summer's second visitors] may be the bigger draw but New Zealand beat us in the one-day series over there and it was close in the Tests."