BBC SPORT | Cricket | England | Thorpe's troubled times



By Ben Kunicki BBC Sport Online

Graham Thorpe's decision to take a break from cricket comes as no surprise after a lacklustre first Test against India, when his mind clearly wasn't on the job in hand.

The limp manner of his dismissals in both innings were way short of the usual class expected from the man who is considered to be England's premier batsman.

The loss to England is a grievous one, particularly at a time when England are already suffering injuries to key men such as Marcus Trescothick.

Who should replace Thorpe? Have your say.

Thorpe's form in recent years has fluctuated, reaching a highpoint in Sri Lanka in March 2001, when he led his side to a memorable series win with centuries at Kandy and Colombo.

Thorpe finds it tough

The Surrey left-hander followed that up with a century in the two-match series against Pakistan, but during the subsequent one-day triangular tournament, a calf-injury laid him low.

Returning for the second Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, Thorpe then fell victim to Brett Lee and missed the rest of the series.

It was a bitter blow to both Thorpe and his team-mates.

After the winter's successes, England genuinely believed they had a chance of regaining the Ashes but injuries to Nasser Hussain and Thorpe made that an impossibility.

Graham Thorpe is clean-bowled
Thorpe's recent form has been poor
Worse was to come for Thorpe, when he was forced to return home from England's tour of India to address his domestic situation.

Yet he came through a difficult period to return in triumph with the first double-century of his Test career against New Zealand in Christchurch.

Only two months ago Thorpe was smashing a century against the Sri Lankans at Old Trafford, but since then the problems have returned for almost a year have caused him to take stock.

Thorpe has already withdrawn from one-day cricket following a NatWest series in which he again seemed distant and played poorly by his high standards.

If that was a blow to England's World Cup plans, his current sabbatical will cause tremors in an England team still yet to subdue India and with another Ashes tour looming.

Thorpe's Test career

Matches: 77

Runs: 5109

Average: 41.87

Highest score: 200* v NZ in Christchurch 2001/02

Thorpe retains the highest average of England's batsmen, albeit by the slightest margin from the improving Marcus Trescothick.

More importantly, he is the only England batsmen other than Mark Ramprakash who averages more than 40 against Australia.

Ever since he struck a century on debut against them at Trent Bridge in 1993, the Australians have retained a high level of respect for Thorpe.

Any absence from the upcoming Ashes would represent a significant setback to England's hopes of regaining the urn.

With several England players considering retirement after that series and the World Cup that follows it, Thorpe may follow suit.

Graham Thorpe celebrates his maiden Test century on debut
Happier times for Thorpe against Australia on debut
He turns 33 on Wednesday and may feel that the next big target of the home Ashes series in 2005 is beyond him.

It is to be hoped that Thorpe does not fade away without the last hurrah that his career deserves.

He retained an excellent record throughout the 90s in an England team who were too often uncompetitive and has become a crucial part of Hussain and Duncan Fletcher's revolution.

Throughout his time in the England set-up he has been one of the few men that England fans relied on for both runs and entertainment at the crease.

For the moment he maintains his desire to return to cricket at the top-level for Surrey and England at some point in the future.

Hopefully he will be able to resolve the issues that currently are clouding his life and return.

English cricket would certainly be the poorer without him.