England boosted by improvement in Thorpe's fitness

Graham Thorpe will probably be 100 per cent fit by the start of the Second Ashes Test, according to England captain Nasser Hussain.

The news is a major boost for England although the selectors will wait until the last possible minute before deciding whether to include the Surrey batsman in the final XI.

Thorpe has been out of action for six weeks with a calf injury.

Speaking on BBC radio, Hussain said: "Thorpe has declared himself fit and will probably be 100 per cent fit by next Thursday."

Thorpe will be included in the squad to be announced tomorrow but whether he actually plays "will be a decision left until the last minute", said Hussain. "We will have to sit down and decide whether to risk a key player like Graham and we will have to look at him in the nets.

"The other thing (to consider) is time on the field - after six weeks a day in the field in a Test Match is hard. But what we see during the week will tell us whether he is fit or not."

Hussain acknowledged how important Thorpe was to the side if England were to overturn the Australians' First Test victory at Edgbaston.

"I don't think anybody in the country would doubt that he has been missed and more importantly that he is a very gutsy player."

Thorpe himself said that he had experienced a "massive improvement from where I was ten days ago".

"I am on the road to recovery and I'm going along OK," he told BBC radio.

"I spoke to Duncan Fletcher and he would have loved me to play in this game today (the Benson and Hedges Cup final) but I have been on my backside for about three weeks so I need to get some fitness back in my body first."

Thorpe is determined to put himself through a tough fitness regime in the coming days in order to ascertain whether he will be fit enough to play. He admits: "You cannot re-enact a day in the field in a Test Match but I will put as much strain on my body as possible."

If Thorpe does play, it is possible that he will replace Usman Afzaal who made his Test debut at Edgbaston. However, it is unlikely that Afzaal will join the ranks of one-Test wonders because he has impressed the England selectors.

Hussain said: "Afzaal has looked impressive in the nets. I think Goughie's quote was 'where was this lad in the one-dayers?'. He has got something about him."

The England squad is due to be announced at 11am tomorrow.