Bopara has been a regular in England's ODI set-up since early 2007

England and Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara is hoping for a big winter after being named as the Young Cricketer of the Year by the Cricket Writers' Club.

"Hopefully this can be the start of bigger things for me, away on tour with England this winter," Bopara, 23, said.

"There are some very big stars who have won this award, so it is a big honour."

Other contenders for the prize were England and Nottinghamshire seamer Stuart Broad, Kent opener Joe Denly and Hampshire left-arm spinner Liam Dawson.

The annual award is given to an England-qualified player who must be under 23 on 1 May of the season in question.

Bopara was beaten to the 2007 award by Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid, but made his Test debut in Sri Lanka last winter.

606: DEBATE Bopara is the only candidate as Essex's player of the season piechucker31

He has been a regular member of the one-day international squad for the past 18 months, playing in 28 ODIs.

However, he also enjoyed a successful domestic season with Essex, scoring their first one-day double hundred when he smashed an unbeaten 201 against Leicestershire in the quarter-finals of the Friends Provident Trophy - a competition Essex went on to win.

Bopara has also scored 1,046 first-class runs in 2008, while helping his county to the Pro40 Division Two title and the Twenty20 Cup semi-finals.