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Graham Thorpe has been recalled to the England fold for the Ashes tour, Thorpe, 33, who dropped out of all cricket after the first Test against India citing personal problems, has convinced the selectors that he is ready for the rigours of a tour of Australia - and, since Thorpe has the best record of any current England batsman against Australia, they didn't need much convincing.

"What impressed us all was Graham's determination to get back into the Test arena," said David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors. "His desire to play international cricket is as strong as ever, he remains one of our best batsmen and, as selectors, we are convinced that England will only be the stronger with a fully fit and committed Graham Thorpe in the tour party."

Darren Gough has been included, subject to fitness. He will spearhead a pace attack that includes Andy Caddick and Matthew Hoggard, as well as one-cap wonders Simon Jones and Steve Harmison - but not Alex Tudor or Dominic Cork. Tudor has paid for a lacklustre second half of the summer with the ball, but he is part of a 15-man squad that will be based at the cricket academy in Adelaide.

"We have opted for five pace bowlers, two spinners and one allrounder," said Graveney. "We have been mindful of the need to strengthen our ability to bowl sides out twice and give ourselves a greater chance of winning matches. Simon Jones and Stephen Harmison are both terrific prospects who should find the conditions in Australia to their liking, and their inclusion will create genuine competition for places in the pace-bowling department. Alex Tudor has been included in the National Academy Squad rather than the Test squad because we have concerns about his strength and stamina and want him to concentrate on these areas this winter."

Referring to the various injury problems which have plagued England's summer, Graveney said: "We will continue to monitor the fitness of Andrew Flintoff, Darren Gough, Simon Jones and Michael Vaughan in the run-up to departure, but at this stage we are confident that all four will be fit and available to tour."

Flintoff is the solitary allrounder, beating off the challenge of Yorkshire's Craig White. Although White topped the England batting averages this summer, his record against Australia is very ordinary.

James Foster, the Essex wicketkeeper, gets a tour spot despite missing most of the season with injury. Unless Alec Stewart picks up an injury, it is hard to see Foster playing much - there are two warm-up games before the Tests and only one other first-class match once the Ashes series starts - and it is hard to believe that Foster (and offspinner Richard Dawson) would not have had more match-practice if they had been included in the academy squad instead.

John Crawley squeezed into the party as the last specialist batsman. Crawley started the international season well, but tailed off ... yet still won a place for his third Ashes tour ahead of Mark Ramprakash (who has a better record against Australia) or Nick Knight, this year's leading batsman in the averages. Robert Key, who opened in two Tests against India while Marcus Trescothick was injured, has been overlooked completely.

One name missing from both parties is that of Ian Bell, the highly rated Warwickshire batsman. Graveney revealed: ""He has a stress fracture of the back and it is felt that he needs a rest after a long period of continuous cricket. The National Academy programme this winter, however, does include a tour of Sri Lanka in the new year, and we will consider including Ian on that trip provided he makes a satisfactory recovery from injury."

Nine of the senior team have been given 12-month ECB contracts that run until the end of September next year. They are Hussain, Butcher, Caddick, Flintoff, Giles, Hoggard, Stewart, Trescothick and Vaughan.

England Test squad to tour Australia
Nasser Hussain (capt
Essex)
Marcus Trescothick (Somerset)
Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire)
Mark Butcher (Surrey)
John Crawley (Hampshire)
Graham Thorpe (Surrey) withdrew Sept 24
Alec Stewart (Surrey)
Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire)
James Foster (Essex)
Richard Dawson (Yorkshire)
Ashley Giles (Warwickshire)
Andrew Caddick (Somerset)
Simon Jones (Glamorgan)
Darren Gough (Yorkshire)
Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire)
Steve Harmison (Durham)

ECB Academy squad
Kabir Ali (Worcestershire)
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Gareth Batty (Worcestershire)
Ian Blackwell (Somerset)
Rikki Clarke (Surrey)
Kyle Hogg (Lancashire)
Gordon Muchall (Durham)
Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)
Chris Read (Nottinghamshire)
Darren Stevens (Leicestershire)
Chris Tremlett (Hampshire)
Jim Troughton (Warwickshire)
Alex Tudor (Surrey)
Graham Wagg (Warwickshire)
Mark Wallace (Glamorgan)

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