London, Sept 03: Graham Thorpe insisted his recall to the England team for the fifth and final Test against South Africa on his Oval home ground would reveal a "different bloke" to the one who last played international cricket over a year ago. Surrey left-handed batsman Thorpe, 34, has been in the international wilderness since opting to take a break from all cricket following last year's second Test against India at Lord's, an absence prompted by the collapse of his marriage. He returned towards the end of the 2002 season and assured England's selectors he was ready to tour Australia.
They took him at his word only to see him withdraw from the squad before the plane left the airport.
But at a news conference at the Oval yesterday, two days before the fifth Test gets underway, middle-order batsman Thorpe maintained his personal problems were behind him. "I'm a different bloke, that's the bottom line, a totally different person," added Thorpe who also said he was available for England's winter tours to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
Thorpe's recall came after former England captain Nasser Hussain broke a toe while batting in the fourth Test at Headingley, a match South Africa won by 191 runs to take an unbeatable 2-1 series lead.
But it might have happened in any event after the likes of Anthony McGrath and Ed Smith had done nothing to suggest that they were better players than thorpe whose world-class average of nearly 42 in 77 Tests has made him England's leading batsman of recent years. Bureau Report