Ravi Bopara lends backing to Kevin Pietersen

Ravi Bopara has jumped to the defence of his England teammate Kevin Pietersen.

It was recently claimed that the England batsman had covered his bat in silicon tape to avoid detection on HotSpot during the third Ashes Test - an allegation that he denied earlier today.

In a tweet to the 33-year-old, Bopara said: "Surely someone didn't say u put something on your bat to hide a snick!! Whoever said that - please get in the real world."

It is not currently against the rules for a player to use silicon on his bat.