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> September 29 September
29 Sunday 2002
England name Thorpe replacement,
one-day players
LONDON: England's selectors pulled off a surprise by
calling up inexperienced batsman Robert Key as Graham
Thorpe's replacement for next month's tour to Australia
on Saturday.
The Kent opener was named after Thorpe, a middle-order
batsman, completed a U-turn and pulled out of the tour
owing to personal problems. Key was picked ahead of Mark
Ramprakash, long seen as a fine technician but a regular
underachiever at international level. The 33-year-old
right-hander, who has played 52 Tests, had been regarded
as the likely selection by much of the British media.
Despite continuing questions over his temperament,
Ramprakash has a good record against Australia, scoring
133 at The Oval in his last appearance against them.
Chairman of selectors David Graveney said: "The
selectors considered various options, but we wanted to
maintain continuity in terms of selection. Robert played
two Tests this summer, one at Trent Bridge and one at
Headingley, which was a difficult pitch, and he showed a
lot of promise."
Thorpe retired from One-day Internationals in July and
took a break from cricket following the acrimonious
break-up of his marriage. He made himself available for
the Ashes at the start of September only to change his
mind two weeks later. Graveney said he was not worried
that Key was a specialist opener. "Michael Vaughan
began his
international career in the middle-order and we have no
problem with considering Robert for any batting position
either," he said.
The 23-year-old Key himself was surprised. "I am
thrilled. I had planned for a winter off, taking it easy
at home and playing some hockey before Christmas and
then going to Perth and working on my game in the new
year so this has come as a big surprise.
"I have spent quite a lot of time in Australia.
It's a great place to play cricket and the pitches are
probably the best batting tracks in the world." Key
played three innings in his two Tests against India,
with a highest score of 34.
England, who've lost the last seven Ashes series dating
back to 1986-7, will play five Tests in Australia. The
opening game against the Australian Cricket Board
Chairman's XI is in Perth on October 22. The first Test
in Brisbane starts on November 7.
England also named seven players who would feature in
their one-day squad for a triangular series in Australia
in December also involving Sri Lanka. The seven were Ian
Blackwell, Paul Collingwood, Ronnie Irani, Nick Knight,
Owais Shah, Jeremy Snape, Craig White.
The rest of the 16-man squad will be made up with those
on the Test tour.
Squad: Nasser Hussain (capt), Marcus Trescothick,
Michael Vaughan, Robert Key, Mark Butcher, John Crawley,
Alec Stewart, James Foster, Andrew Flintoff, Darren
Gough, Andrew Caddick, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones,
Steve Harmison, Ashley Giles, Richard Dawson.
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