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| September 26, 2002 | Thursday | Rajab 18, 1423 |
England must say goodbye to Thorpe: Illingworth
LONDON, Sept 25: Former captain and chairman of selectors Ray Illingworth says it is time for England to forget about picking Graham Thorpe after the Surrey batsman pulled out of the forthcoming Ashes tour to Australia.
“It is a great shame because he (Thorpe) is a fine player,” Illingworth, 70, told the Daily Express on Wednesday. “But England really have to say goodbye to him now.”
Thorpe, who has failed to complete a string of tours in recent years, originally made himself available for the five-match series after taking a complete break from the game following the acrimonious break-up of his marriage.
But the 33-year-old left-hander, who has scored 5,109 runs in 77 Tests at an average of 41.87, informed the England management on Monday that he would not be available for the tour, saying he did not feel in the right frame of mind.
Illingworth said: “You cannot have players around who are moping and worrying about problems at home, so it’s best Graham is not going if that is the case.
“But I think he will regret the decision. He is 33 and won’t get another chance. You are a long time retired and I would have thought it best for him and his family to give it a go and put his heart and soul into it.
“It’s barely three months away, nothing like tours in the past which took six months,” said Illingworth, who captained England in 31 Tests between 1969-73 and was chairman of selectors between 1994-97.
“I am surprised he has reached this stage because he was never a problem for me as chairman, we got on well. But the selectors cannot afford to be messed around like this.”
Former England captain Mike Gatting, however, said it was too early to write off Thorpe’s Test career.
“To play at Test level against the best in the world, you have to focus 100 percent and that means putting family life on hold, hard as that may be at times,” Gatting told the Daily Express.—Reuters
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