Gough Returns But Thorpe is Kept Waiting

After days of speculation, the response from England's selectors to Graham Thorpe is finally known. It is "not quite yet" rather than "never," and now it remains to be seen how well he handles the rejection.

While England face South Africa in the first Test at Edgbaston next week, Thorpe will seek to make a point with a restorative hundred for Surrey, and with Middlesex due at Guildford he has every chance. But today he will look at his 5,109 Test runs, at 41.08, and wonder whether that statistic is now designed to outlive him.

The path to Thorpe's door has been well trodden by England selectors in recent days for prolonged discussions to try to determine whether, almost a year after a marital break-up which has had debilitating consequences on his professional career, he is mentally attuned for an England return.

Duncan Fletcher, David Graveney and Geoff Miller have all talked to him in turn, which presumably amounts to the old tactic of nice cop, nasty cop and laughing policeman.

Nasser Hussain, as England Test captain and long-time friend, might have been better positioned to make an assessment. He summed up Thorpe's position shrewdly yesterday, suggesting that an opportunity may yet beckon later in the summer but stressing the need to keep faith with a player - Anthony McGrath - who has done little wrong in his first international summer.

Hussain told Sky Sports: "There is no point picking people if you don't know what their situation is, so the selectors went out to find out what his position is and Graham said some very encouraging things.

"We must view it as a bonus if somebody like Graham Thorpe is now fully fit and available to play for England, but it is all about sending messages out about treating young lads in the right way. I think the selectors have sent the right message out to everyone - in and out of the side."

Surrey's support of Thorpe had been unbounded. "He's been happy, he's been committed, he's on fire," said their coach Keith Medlycott. That hardly begins to illustrate how he scratched around in Surrey's last championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, but then his batting form was never really the issue.

Graveney, England's chairman of selectors, said: "Everybody is obviously pleased that events off the field are getting easier for him. We are pleased that he wants to come back to play for England both at home and abroad but we wanted to show loyalty and confidence towards Anthony McGrath who has done nothing wrong in his time for England."

While Thorpe discussed his inner feelings with everyone but Oprah Winfrey, Darren Gough's form and fitness went entirely unmonitored at Chester-le-Street. The selectors will plead that they are well aware what Gough can do but they insisted that he proved his fitness at county level and then did not bother to turn up. It was a careless omission.

Graveney underlined that advice had been sought from the England and Wales Cricket Board's chief medical officer, Peter Gregory, about whether Gough's likely Test workload would put undue pressure on a right knee that has undergone three operations and would undermine what has been a startling recovery.

"Darren did exceptionally well in the one-dayers and he has bowled without mishap for Yorkshire," Graveney said. "We feel that we need his experience and quality as part of our attack."

Gough now looks certain to play, unless his knee suddenly deteriorates. Richard Johnson's groin injury was expected to leave his involvement in doubt, but few anticipated he would be omitted and instructed to play a four-day championship match for Somerset to prove his fitness.

James Kirtley was drafted in as cover because of Johnson's injury, but the odds are that he will again be released on Wednesday to rejoin Sussex. Kirtley has endured this rigmarole about half-a-dozen times in the past year and his first Test cap seems as far away as ever. If he ever plays, there will be predictable rumblings about the legality of his action. He needs considerable forbearance to accept his lot.

England would have been better looking elsewhere. Matthew Hoggard's recovery from a cartilage operation could take another month. But Kabir Ali took eight wickets for Worcestershire against Derbyshire yesterday and Chris Tremlett made a promising return for Hampshire as Glamorgan lost heavily after being forced to follow on.

Until someone else rises through the ranks, fast bowling resources are dangerously shallow. The gamble on Gough suggests as much.