da bet7k： Kent batsman, Robert Key, has been named as batting replacement for Graham Thorpe for England’s Ashes tour of Australia this winter
ECB Media Release28-Sep-2002Kent batsman, Robert Key, has been named as batting replacement for Graham Thorpe for England’s Ashes tour of Australia this winter.David Graveney, chairman of selectors, said, “The selectors consideredvarious options but we wanted to maintain continuity in terms of selection.Robert played two Tests this summer, one at Trent Bridge and one atHeadingley, which was a difficult wicket, and he showed a lot of promise.”Michael Vaughan began his international career in the middle order and wehave no problem with considering Robert for any batting position either.”Robert Key said, “I am thrilled. To tour Australia is something I havewanted to do ever since I was a kid. I had planned for a winter off, takingit easy at home and playing some hockey before Christmas and then going toPerth and working on my game in the New Year so this has come as a bigsurprise.”I was pleased with my summer. My plan was to make the Test team and Iachieved that. I felt in good shape in the Tests and I got a start in eachone but did not make the most of it after doing the hard work. I now needto establish myself in the team.”I have spent quite a lot of time in Australia. It’s a great place to playcricket and the wickets are probably the best batting wickets in the world.I’m looking forward to it.”England One-Day specialist players named for VB Series in Australia 2002-3The England and Wales Cricket Board today named seven specialist one-dayplayers who will form part of the squad for the triangular VB Series -between Australia, England and Sri Lanka – in Australia this winter.The remainder of the 16-man squad for the competition will be made up ofplayers from the Test Match squad, which will already be in Australiacompeting for the Ashes. The full one-day squad will be named nearer thestart of the series, which begins on Friday, 13th December.Chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said: “There is no urgency to selectthe full 16-man one-day squad at this stage and, by not doing so, we arekeeping our options open to be able to assess the form and fitness of theTest match players on tour.”But we needed to pick these seven specialist players now in order for themto plan their winters and prepare for the tour. Clearly there have beenrecent injury concerns over Craig White and Paul Collingwood, and allplayers’ fitness will be monitored nearer the time as normal.”England one-day specialist players for VB Series:
Ian Blackwell Somerset 10.06.78Paul Collingwood Durham 26.05.76Ronnie Irani Essex 26.10.71Nick Knight Warwickshire 28.11.69Owais Shah Middlesex 22.10.78Jeremy Snape Gloucestershire 27.04.73Craig White Yorkshire 16.12.76