21 February 1999
Thorpe returns to ignite England
By Paul Newman
THE World Cup was the last thing on Graham Thorpe's mind when he
was forced to quit the Ashes tour with a recurrence of the back
injury he thought had been cured. He will complete a remarkable
recovery from that career-threatening blow, however, when he is
named this week in England's final 19.
Not only that, but England are prepared to fast-track one of
their best batsmen straight into their first-choice World Cup
line-up if he can prove he really has recovered from a condition
that has plagued him since last year's West Indies tour. And he
will repay that faith by making a personal sacrifice so big that
he has agonised over it with his family before making himself
available for the Sharjah tournament, a condition of World Cup
selection.
Thorpe's wife Nicky is expecting their second child on April 6 -
in the middle of England's trip to Pakistan and Sharjah - and the
Surrey man has now confirmed he will miss the birth to try to
regain his place in the England line-up. It has not been easy.
"It's personal and it has been difficult," said Thorpe, speaking
for the first time about the dilemma and his fitness battle. "I
wouldn't say my wife is entirely happy about it, but it's the
situation we're in and it's done. Now I've got to get on with it.
If picked I'll go to Sharjah."
And he will go in a positive frame of mind. "My career supports
my family and you have to make sacrifices at times. The important
thing for us is that Nicky has a network in place to support her,
good people around, for the peace of mind of both of us because I
don't want to go away and be bitter about it. That's been sorted
now.
"This has been one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make
and there's no easy answer. I've had to analyse what's important
in life but I kept on coming back to the two biggest things I
could imagine - being at the birth of my child and hitting the
four that wins the World Cup for England. . ."
He smiles and leaves the rest of the sentence unanswered, not
wanting to say he had put the chance to do the latter ahead of
the former. But that is the essence of it. A man who has spent
the last 10 winters away from home with England, on largely
unsuccessful overseas missions, is still chasing the dream. Not
only that, but his drive has been enhanced by two months away
from the 'office', a time to take stock. Traditionalists may
scoff at a modern player bemoaning the demands of touring but
England's best players must be allowed a break. "It's been great
to be here," said Thorpe, 29, while building work on an extension
continued at his home in Ewell.
"In many ways I've become a parent and a husband again and I've
appreciated the chance to get my priorities right. I've had
fantastic support from my family and I owe them a lot. If I had
played on the whole Australian tour maybe there might have been a
case for me asking to be at home during Sharjah, but I can see it
through the selectors' eyes."
It is a key point because there is no doubt that England, perhaps
forgetting much of the good cricket they played in their early
one-day internationals in Australia and remembering only the bad
at the end, will be taking a huge gamble in rushing Thorpe back.
Especially in a team which will also include Neil Fairbrother, a
certainty after his one-day mastery in Australia but a player
susceptible to injury. It is a risk they are keen to take, a
reflection on Thorpe's quality at both the short and long games.
"I wish I could say I will never have back problems again but I
can't," said Thorpe, a quiet man becoming more confident in his
public utterances. "I'm just quietly convinced it will be fine. I
believe the strength has returned to my back, providing I pay
attention to all the things I need to do."
It has been a worry both for Thorpe and England. He had the
occasional back spasm when he was younger, but it first became
serious when he left the Caribbean tour early. Then a breakdown
during last summer's Old Trafford Test left him needing an
operation to remove a cyst which was followed by a premature
comeback for Surrey's championship decider at the Oval. He made a
good start to the Ashes tour until a plane journey from Adelaide
to Perth caused a reaction that forced him home. Intense
rehabilitation has been followed by a visit from Graham Gooch to
check his progress and the promise of a fitness test before the
squad is finalised.
"It was my lack of understanding over why it happened again that
really bothered me," said Thorpe. "But I saw an excellent
specialist in Perth and perhaps the strength wasn't completely
there in Australia. Everything feels good now. I've been playing
non-stop for 10 years and I'd got fed up with taking pain-killing
tablets. My body told me to stop and I'll come back stronger for
the knowledge I've gained. I'll be apprehensive when I play again
but I don't want to get paranoid."
That will be enough to convince selectors Gooch, David Graveney,
Alec Stewart and Mike Gatting (in contact from New Zealand) plus
coach David Lloyd that Thorpe should be included when they meet
this week to name the 19-man party to be reduced to 15 at the end
of March.
Possible starting XI: Knight, Wells, Hick, Stewart, Thorpe,
Fairbrother, Ealham, Croft, Austin, Gough, Mullally. Others:
Hussain, A Hollioake, Fraser, Martin, Hamilton, Alleyne, A Brown
(or Atherton), Giles.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)