Bopara has played four one-day internationals this year for England

Essex chief executive David East says discussions over a new deal are progressing between the club and all-rounder Ravi Bopara.

The 25-year-old has been considering a two-year contract since the close of the county season.

"Ravi and I have been in conversation today [Thursday] about his contract," East told BBC Essex.

"I'm very comfortable with the way discussions are going. I'm hoping to bring it to a positive conclusion."

Bopara is set to spend the winter playing for South African side KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins as he tries to secure a place in the England squad for next year's World Cup.

Essex had previously expressed an interest in signing former Middlesex batsman Owais Shah as they look to rebuild their squad ahead of next summer's campaign.

We have to decide whether we defer or we actually take a bit of a punt Essex chief executive David East on potential recruitment

But East says confusion over the future setup of the domestic Twenty20 competition means the club is unable to start the recruitment process.

He added: "We have a club committee meeting next week, we were hoping to be able to go to that meeting with a defined structure to the game so we could realistically judge how much we could spend.

"But we won't know that until 17 November at the earliest, so we have to decide whether we defer until that time or we actually take a bit of a punt on it.

"With the sort of numbers that are involved with making significant adjustments to your squad that's possibly a dangerous strategy, it's all very unsatisfactory I'm afraid."

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