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Thorpe calls it quits in one-dayers

London July 15. Leading England batsman Graham Thorpe announced his retirement from one-day international cricket here on Saturday.

The 32-year-old left-handed batsman said he wanted to spend more time with his two children and his body could not take playing Test cricket as well as one-day internationals.

His announcement means he will not be a member of England's squad at next year's World Cup in South Africa.

``I have made this decision for two reasons,'' he said in a statement. ``Firstly, in terms of keeping my body fit, it is becoming harder to do so playing both Tests and one-day internationals for England, so I have decided to concentrate on just playing Test matches.

``Secondly I want to have more time to build a relationship with my two children, given my new personal circumstances at home'' (Thorpe and his wife are in the process of a divorce).

Thorpe added: ``It is an exciting time for the England one-day team with our performances steadily improving over the past 18 months.

``I wish them the best of luck in the Champions Trophy, in Australia and of course especially in the World Cup next year.''

England coach Duncan Fletcher said: ``Graham got an ankle injury halfway through the series which allowed us to play Michael Vaughan.

``Given that he let us know of his decision to retire from the one-day team at the time, we decided it was a good opportunity to continue with Michael in the side and let him gain further valuable experience in one-day cricket.''

Former Zimbabwe star Fletcher added: ``Graham has been a fantastic one-day player for England and we will miss him, but we look forward to him continuing as a key player in our Test match side.''

Thorpe played the first of his 82 one-day internationals against Australia in 1993 and averaged 37.18 hitting a top score of 89. — AFP

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