From leading man to yesterday's man: the timing of Graham Thorpe announcing his retirement from one-day internationals – straight after the highest-scoring ODI ever played in England – meant the news did not get the column inches it might ordinarily have warranted. For years Thorpe has been recognised as England's best batsman per se, in Test and one-day cricket, but now he will concentrate on Tests alone. The one-day side will have to find another finisher.

In the Sunday Times, Simon Wilde described it as "the second blow to English cricket on a day when the national team lost the NatWest Series final". Stephen Brenkley and Andrew Tong, writing in the Independent on Sunday, concurred. They described it as "a heavy blow to England's plans for the World Cup".

There was little comment on the slightly opaque timing of Thorpe's announcement – the World Cup starts in less than nine months' time – although Scyld Berry, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, felt it left England light ahead of that tournament. Their top four would now be Marcus Trescothick, Nick Knight, Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan, but "if one of them suffers an injury, or England need an extra batsman to face a heavy-duty bowling side like Australia, they now have no reserve batsman of any experience".

Thorpe's retirement should open the door for Vaughan, who, according to Peter Roebuck in the Sunday Times, "brings a certain Victorian gravity to the team and might have come straight from a period piece". High praise indeed.

Given Thorpe's changing personal circumstances – he split from his wife earlier this year – Berry said his decision "has to be the right one".

He also suggested that burnout played a part. Thorpe was the first Englishman to go on ten consecutive tours (four A, six senior), starting at the age of 20. "Thorpe's retirement," says Berry, "is a lesson for our times."

Peter Hayter, in the Mail on Sunday, blamed England's crowded international programme, and warned about "a group of thirtysomething players who are considering their futures after the World Cup".

Hayter revealed that Thorpe told him recently that "There comes a time when touring becomes less attractive ... [you are] much more concerned with the home and the family and the fact that you are not there."

Thorpe continued by talking about his children: "Henry is five now and I have been to one of his birthday parties. He will be six on November 20 and, if I am selected, I will be in Australia preparing for the second Test. I missed Amelia's birth. These are things you never get back."

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