Carry on without Thorpe

England must start planning for another winter without Graham Thorpe.

Surrey do not expect the troubled 33-year-old batsman to play for them again this season and they are already starting to talk about welcoming him back next April.

England may decide to keep the door open a little longer, but they would want to see Thorpe committed to playing again before even considering offering him a place on an Ashes tour of Australia which begins in mid-October.

Coach Duncan Fletcher said recently: "Graham appreciates the problem. We are not going to ignore someone of his talent, but we've got to weigh up things like fitness levels and age. We cannot just pick Graham out of the blue."

He retired from one-day international cricket this summer. Then, after the First Test against India three weeks ago, he said he needed to take a complete break for an unspecified period of time.

His marriage hit the rocks last winter, causing him to fly back early from England's tour of India. Since then, he has been embroiled in domestic issues, chiefly over his children, and he was clearly struggling to focus on his cricket. He knows he cannot expect to play for England this winter unless he returns to Surrey before the end of the season but seems to have decided a few more months at home is the best option.

Meanwhile, the contracts row threatening to hit next month's Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka - and could even endanger February's World Cup - seems to be escalating.

At the centre of the dispute is the International Cricket Council's stance prohibiting players from fulfilling personal business deals if they are in direct opposition to tournament sponsors.