Graham Thorpe has announced that his is taking a break from all forms of cricket, and will not be available to Surrey or England in the immediate future.

"This has been a very difficult decision for me to make," said Thorpe, 32. "I have enjoyed being a part of the Surrey and the England dressing-rooms this summer and have every intention of continuing my career as a professional cricketer.

"But I am feeling very worn down and burnt out by events off the field which have become a major distraction for me and prevented me from fully focusing on my cricket.

Thorpe is currently embroiled in a high-profile divorce from his wife Nicky - a situation that came to light when he flew home from England's tour of India just before the second Test last December - and he has looked an increasingly distracted figure in recent weeks. He announced his retirement from one-day cricket after England's defeat in the NatWest Series final earlier this month, but after scores of 4 and 1 in the first Test this week, it is clear that his mind is still far from the game.

"What I'm planning to do now is take a break from cricket so I can make my children the No. 1 priority in my life and give myself more time to readjust to my changed domestic circumstances.

"I'm fully aware of the consequences as far as my England Test place is concerned," said Thorpe. "This will create an opportunity for another player to come into the team and I have had to balance that possibility against the needs of my family."

Thorpe has created that opportunity before, but such is his stature as an international cricketer, it has not been held against him. In 1999-2000, after spending ten consecutive winters representing England touring sides, he opted out of the trip to South Africa, Nasser Hussain's first as captain. After spending Christmas with his family he returned, it seemed, a better-rounded player.

But despite his recent century in the third Test against Sri Lanka, and the triumphant winter of 2000-01, when he established himself as most complete player of his generation, Thorpe has, to all intents and purposes, been a part-time Test cricketer for the past three years, and has missed 22 of the last 48 Tests, dating back to 1998. Retirement, though, is not on his mind for the moment.

"I feel that I have plenty more cricket in me at the highest level," he said, "and hopefully this break will recharge my batteries and allow me to resume my career once my domestic situation has been resolved."

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Hussain conceded what everyone knew: that the trouble with Thorpe was with his mind. As well as making just five runs in two innings, he also dropped Sachin Tendulkar before he had got in to double digits in the first innings.

"I am not troubled by the thought of him getting back to nick," said Hussain. "Just take everything off the field away and he will be scoring the runs. But I don't know how well off he is at the moment mentally. It's something I have to discuss both with Graham and the selectors. It obvious that he has not been up there mentally in this Test match.

"I have spoken to him throughout this Test and I think he will be fine. He just needs to sort out his life at the moment. But as far as Graham's cricket goes, he just scored a hundred two Tests match ago at Edgbaston and two Tests before that, he scored one of the fastest double-hundreds in Test cricket in New Zealand. It's not that he has batted badly for us. He has just had a bad week in the office. And when you have had a bad week in the office and everything else is going wrong, it can get really bad. It's now up to us, the management, the selectors to get him to back to playing the way he was a month or two ago.

"He is a fine, class player, who averages over 40 and is usually the first name down on our sheet. It will take a lot for us to leave him out."

Inevitably, this latest development in Thorpe's career will only serve to intensify the current debate about the amount of international cricket being played. Thorpe is not the only player to suffer a marital breakdown as a result of his England commitments - earlier this year Darren Gough's marriage came to an end as well. And, unless a change is made in the foreseeable future, he will not be the last.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd