ENGLISH cricket has one wish this summer, but to achieve it Graham Thorpe will need to be at his best. Thorpe turns 36 three days before the start of the second Ashes Test at Edgbaston in August, and recent whispers have been about fading reflexes and ageing eyes. But he prepared for the new season by recording a personal best on the dreaded bleep test, and yesterday batted with much of the calm authority of old.

If Mark Ramprakash caught the eye with a classy 152, then Thorpe’s busy 59 is of more relevance to the selectors in this Ashes-centric summer.

The only grouse was his sweeping. Three paddles against Mushtaq Ahmed were unconvincing; the fourth, popped to short leg via bat and pad, proved fatal. The sweep got Thorpe into trouble in South Africa against the occasional off-breaks of Graeme Smith, so a policy decision is needed if he is to assert himself against Shane Warne, possibly at No 4 — a position he last occupied regularly for England more than three years ago.

This, though, will do for starters. When Surrey resumed on the final day of a game that had already been condemned by the weather to a battle for bonus points, they quickly lost Richard Clinton to a loose waft. But Thorpe nudged and deflected from the off, and soon drove and cut three fours in a Robin Martin-Jenkins over, while Ramprakash used his feet to counter Mushtaq, including a majestic lofted six.

When Thorpe departed to end a third-wicket stand of 116 in 36 overs, Surrey moved up a gear. Ramprakash added 122 in 28 overs with the aggressive Jonathan Batty and 113 in 19 with the irrepressible Ali Brown, who smashed a run-a-ball 74 as Surrey raced towards their full set of five batting points. Ramprakash, the stand-in captain while Mark Butcher recovers from a wrist injury, looked as elegantly immovable as ever until Jason Lewry trapped him in front, but his long-lamented England days are behind him.

Butcher had a gentle net session yesterday and hopes to be back in action in a fortnight. And there was more good news for Surrey when their coach, Steve Rixon, played down a report that he could be in line for the South Africa job.“This is not true,” he said.“I still have a year to go on my contract here at Surrey, so that’s all I’m concerned about.”