Ravi Bopara is ready to follow Kevin Pietersen's lead and play "fearless cricket" if England's new captain gives him the chance to relaunch his Test career tomorrow.

Bopara looked a nervous wreck by the end of last winter's series in Sri Lanka, finishing with three consecutive ducks and giving the selectors little choice but to leave him out of the follow-up trip to New Zealand.

But, far from letting his first, painful experience of Test cricket weigh him down, the 23-year-old Essex all-rounder went back to the county circuit, scored big runs in all forms of the game and put himself in prime position for a recall to the national squad.

Many people believe either Bopara or Middlesex's perpetually overlooked Owais Shah should have been given a chance earlier this summer when Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell were struggling for runs. Instead, Shah still waits while Bopara's chance to play at The Oval this week comes courtesy of Michael Vaughan's tearful exit.

"It's fantastic to be called back in and is something I've aimed for and worked hard towards," said Bopara, who is likely to bat at No5 tomorrow when England set about salvaging a bit of pride during the fourth and final Test.

Three championship centuries and a string of eye-catching innings in limitedovers cricket have kept Bopara's name in the news. "It has been a pretty prolific season for me and the biggest change is that I have been in fearless mode," he said. "I have just been going out to play in the way I want to play: see the ball and hit it."

Sound familiar? Pietersen's approach to batting tends to run along similar lines but whether Bopara can translate county confidence into international assurance remains to be seen.

"The challenge for me is to continue it with an England shirt on," added Bopara. "The thing that all good Test players do is take what they can for their counties and replicate it on the international stage.

"That is what I'm going to do if I get the chance to play Test cricket again."

The series has already gone but Bopara is not alone in needing to show Pietersen that he should remain part of England's plans beyond this summer. "I am going to go out and play for Kev," said Bopara. "He has a tough job on his hands. We all know the England captaincy is not an easy job. I want to do well for Kev and do for England. He's the new captain and he's already rubbed off on me."

Bopara for Vaughan is unlikely to be England's only change tomorrow.

With Ryan Sidebottom below full pace at Edgbaston, Steve Harmison's first Test appearance since being dropped in New Zealand five months ago seems almost certain while Stuart Broad could return for a now understandably jaded Jimmy Anderson.

Mind you, it will not matter much who bowls for Pietersen this week if England keep failing to score enough runs. Only once in 15 Tests have they totalled 400 in the first innings - something the new skipper and his team need to put right straight away. They cannot expect to receive any charity from South Africa, either.

"We are a very goal-driven side and want to become ruthless," said coach Mickey Arthur when asked whether winning this series 3-0, rather than 2-0 or 2-1, mattered much. "There is no dead Test for us, it's about winning 3-0 and playing to the best of our ability.

"There are areas we've been very good at in this series and others we haven't been that good at. We are looking to improve and become the complete package, which we aren't yet."

England used their series win in South Africa during the winter of 2004-5 to set them up for Ashes glory just a few months later. Arthur's team play the Australians later this year and are clearly anxious to maintain momentum through to that engagement.

"I never thought in my wildest dreams we'd be going into The Oval Test 2-0 up," admitted Arthur.

"But you've always got to be aware the wounded lion and we are expecting a huge backlash from England in this match. There's a new direction, new leadership and they will all be wanting to try to impress KP. We are expecting a really tough challenge this week."