Thorpe withdraws from Ashes Tour

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirms that Graham Thorpe has withdrawn from this winter's Ashes Tour of Australia. The announcement of a replacement player and the announcement of the England one-day squad for the one-day series in Australia this winter will be made by Monday 30 September at the latest.

David Graveney, Chairman of Selectors, said, "When I spoke to Graham he told me that he didn't want to let anyone down. Obviously he has been in good form recently with a couple of hundreds so there was no doubt about his ability to play, but he felt at the end of the day that he couldn't commit himself to being away from home for that period of time.

"There was no pressure brought to bear on him by the selectors. We respect Graham's views at this time and fully understand the difficulties he has had over the last six months."