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| June 1, 2005 | Wednesday | Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1426 |
Thorpe set to win 100th Test cap
LONDON, May 31: England’s Graham Thorpe will win his 100th cap in the second and final Test against Bangladesh starting on Friday but the middle order batsman has been warned he is not assured of a place for the Ashes Tests. England on Tuesday named the same 12-man squad that beat Bangladesh by an innings and 261 runs in three days at Lord’s last week.
Off-spinner Gareth Batty, who did not bowl or bat in the first Test, retains his place for the game in Durham as Ashley Giles has not recovered from a hip injury.
Uncapped Gloucestershire seamer Jon Lewis has been named in both the Test squad and the squad for the one-day triangular series against Australia and Bangladesh.
Thorpe, 35, recently announced he would play for and coach New South Wales in the southern hemisphere summer, effectively ruling him out of touring with England.
“We were a bit disappointed by the timing (of the announcement),” said chairman of selectors David Graveney.
“But the most important thing is whether Graham Thorpe is the right person to play in the best team. I am delighted for him (that) he is in this squad and will play his 100th Test.
“But he will know he has to maintain his form throughout the summer. There are a lot of pretenders out there – Kevin Pietersen, Robert Key — who are challenging for those spots.”
Pietersen’s omission from the first Test, after his superlative one-day form on the tour of South Africa, surprised many in the English game.
“Kevin will challenge obviously because he’s a talent and Robert Key was probably unlucky to be left out,” Graveney said. “We have tried to have consistency with our selection over the last few years.”
Graveney said he thought it would take time for Andrew Flintoff to recovery from his recent ankle surgery and he stressed how important the all-rounder was to England’s chances in the five-Test series against Australia starting in late July.
“It’s great to have him back. He’s the one person, the only person, who balances both Test and one-day teams.
“He’s the talisman England need if we are going to prosper this summer.”
Squad for second Test: Michael Vaughan (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Graham Thorpe, Ian Bell, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wicket-keeper), Gareth Batty, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, Simon Jones, Jon Lewis
One-day squad for triangular series: Michael Vaughan (captain), Kabir Ali, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Stephen Harmison, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Jon Lewis, Kevin Pietersen, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick.—Reuters
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