da cassino online： LONDON – England looked set to start life without Graham Thorpe soonerrather than later after his county side Surrey said the class batsmanwas
AFP20-Aug-2002LONDON – England looked set to start life without Graham Thorpe soonerrather than later after his county side Surrey said the class batsmanwas “extremely unlikely” to play again this season.Thorpe, 33, decided to take an indefinite break from all cricket afterEngland’s first Test victory over India at Lord’s in July.His move was prompted by the break-up of his marriage and discussionsabout access arrangements to his young children, Henry, 5 and Amelia, 3.However, England hoped that the left-handed middle-order batsman wouldreturn before the end of the season to press his claims for selection inthe 2002-2003 Ashes series in Australia.But given that England coach Duncan Fletcher had said that Thorpe can’tbe picked “out of the blue”, his chances of selection now appear to behanging by a thread.Earlier this season Thorpe announced his retirement from internationalone-day cricket in a bid, he said, to ease his personal problems andprolong his Test career.Then came the announcement of his break from all forms of the game.The news that he will not be playing again this season is sure tointensify speculation over his international future.Even those who question his commitment to the England cause cannotdispute his record on the field.In an era where Australia has dominated Ashes Tests (England’s lastseries victory was back in 1986-87), Thorpe has still averaged over 45against them.Thorpe, capped 77 times by England, has repeatedly proved himself as abig-match performer, scoring the second-fastest Test double hundredagainst New Zealand in Christchurch in March.But, thanks to a combination of both personal and back problems, Thorpehas only completed one full touring program out of the past five.He now faces the prospect of losing out on one of the new annual Englandcentral contracts worth STG200,000 ($A574,000) which are due to be givento 16 players at the end of the current domestic season.Australia captain Steve Waugh, in England as Kent’s replacement overseasplayer for the rest of the season, paid tribute to Thorpe.”He’s a class player and he has made a decision that’s right for hisfamily,” he said.”You have to respect him for that. It’s a courageous decision when youare playing for your country and he wouldn’t have made it lightly.”I just hope he comes back and plays Test cricket or one-day cricketagain.”