Thorpe's sights on 21st century

Cricket

England A 317 and 60-2 The Rest 123 and 253 England A win by 8 wickets

As expected England A won this match with style and some ease. Indeed only a fine century by Graham Thorpe, the 20th of his career, forced Nasser Hussain's side to return for their second innings, as chill winds and showers reminded those present that despite Thorpe's sure and balmy offering, it was still April.

The match confirmed little, except that on his day Graham Thorpe is England's finest batsman. But then his reappointed England captain, Michael Atherton, knew that, so why was the Surrey man asked to play with the hopefuls against the impressively well drilled England A?

One reason could be that Raymond Illingworth feels Thorpe is too complacent with what he achieves, particularly at Test level where he averages 40.93 from 26 Tests. It is an average high enough to denote class, but with only two centuries, Thorpe will have to convert more of his 70s into hundreds to achieve the greatness that is within his grasp.

It is a failing he is well aware of, despite being the only batsman to have returned from the World Cup with his reputation intact after a lean tour of South Africa, where his one-day form far exceeded that in Tests.

"There is no doubt that Test cricket is the ultimate," he said, during a long break for rain. "But I don't see any point in harping on about disappointments. I don't think I've got any glaring errors in technique. Perhaps we should give some credit to the bowlers occasionally."

Thorpe differs from most English batsmen in his ability to pull to the boundary deliveries that most batsmen seem happy to tuck in behind and play down for one. It is an ability that requires phenomenal speed of eye and hand, and a gift that appears to be bestowed solely on left-handers, like Brian Lara and David Gower.

It certainly makes them harder to bowl at, and Thorpe punished all the seamers. He hit the the normally unflappable Munton for successive fours, a sublime cover drive on the up preceding a rasping pull as the bewildered bowler shortened his length. Mind you, Munton took the final bow, when he pipped Thorpe to the man of the match award. With a fifty and seven wickets to his name, only a Surrey man would have argued.

Ed Giddins also took seven wickets in the match as England A's seamers made the ball seam more often by hitting the pitch harder than the opposition - possibly the product of a winter spent toiling away on the grassless surfaces of Pakistan.

To illustrate this dominance, The Rest managed three sets of pairs, including one by the tall left-armer Paul Hutchison. If it was a chastening first- class debut for the 18-year-old Yorkshireman, he at least had the satisfaction of knocking back Hussain's off-stump with a corker that left him off the pitch.

When his muscles firm up and he learns to swing it further, he will trouble the best. For the sake of English cricket let us hope some of his team- mates do the same this summer.