Thorpe vital to the cause, says Fletcher

England coach Duncan Fletcher said his side "are in quite a good position" as they closed play on the second day of the Third Test at 175/4 with Graham Thorpe on 71 and Michael Vaughan on 26 - and stressed the importance of Thorpe's batting.

"It is important that Thorpe is out there," he said. "He plays the spinners well and nothing fazes him."

He also talked of the difficulty of leaving Vaughan out for the first two Tests, after an innings that grew in stature after a slow start.

"It has been difficult to leave Michael out. We must find the best balance for the team, and also Graeme Hick has showed himself to be a class player."

Fletcher also shed some light on an incident concerning Nasser Hussain when the England captain edged a catch to slip which television replays showed did not carry. After consultation with the square leg umpire, Asoka De Silva raised his finger. Hussain began to walk off slowly, but stopped after the third umpire intervened, ruling it not out.

Fletcher said: "He was given out and was on his way when one of the umpires asked 'don't you think we should check that'. Hussain was reprieved but went on to add only four more runs.

During his innings Hussain used Michael Atherton as a runner. Dean Conway, the England physio, explained: "Yesterday he tweaked his right thigh and today he was struggling with that."

Conway said that Hussain would definitely bat with a runner in the second innings if needed and there was likely to be a "problem" with Hussain playing in the one-day series, which starts a week today.

"This right thigh injury is a little more severe than his previous injury. We may be looking at the ten-day end of things."