IT IS a strange situation when an England batsman who has played 98 Tests, and has scored 1,527 runs at an average of 56 in the past 21 of them, finds himself the most precariously placed member of the national side. Because of back trouble, a poor start to the season and a modest tour to South Africa, that is the position of Graham Thorpe in the squad of 12 announced yesterday for the first npower Test match against Bangladesh, starting at Lord’s on Thursday week.

Ian Bell has been preferred to Rob Key or Kevin Pietersen, probably at No 3, although there is a case for Michael Vaughan, the captain, to move to first wicket down and Thorpe, if he is fit, to go to No 4, leaving Bell in the position from which he made 70 in his only Test to date, against West Indies at the Oval in the last Test of last summer.

Jon Lewis is in the XII rather than Chris Tremlett or James Anderson, who is being given the sustained run in county cricket that he needs to recover rhythm and confidence. Simon Jones played for Glamorgan yesterday after missing the four-day game at the Oval last week, but the choice has often been between his hit-the-deck style and a swing bowler.

Thorpe hopes, as do all who admire his skill and grit when the going gets tough, that he will win his 100th cap in the second of the two Tests against Bangladesh before having a final chance to be part of an England team that wins the Ashes. He made a hundred in his first Test against Australia and the perfect ending does not require a scriptwriting genius: another one at the Oval in September to help to seize the series.

These, however, are such stuff as dreams are made on. Thorpe’s back has been troubling him periodically for years and for this reason — as well as a broken finger at Lord’s in the last home Ashes series, when he was hit by a ball from Brett Lee — he has played in only two of the past 15 Tests between the countries.

Thorpe was still not fit to play in Surrey’s totesport League match away to Leicestershire yesterday, although he hopes to do so tomorrow against Gloucestershire in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy. He said in his Sunday column that he remains confident that he can still perform effectively against both Bangladesh and Australia. “If I wasn’t convinced of that, I would already have jacked it in because there is too much at stake for me to try to fool myself,” he said.

Lewis, hoping for a first cap at the age of 29, is guaranteed to swing a new ball and to keep good control with an old one. Much the same could be said of Martin Saggers and Martin Bicknell, who have performed useful roles as mature bowlers for England in the past two years. Whether he is a better long-term prospect than Tremlett, whose good action and exceptional height make him potentially a more dangerous bowler against the finest batsmen, is a question that may only be answered against Australia rather than Bangladesh.

The same, of course, could be said of anyone, including Pietersen, who will have plenty of time to make his mark on Australia in the one-day internationals. The carefully worded comments yesterday by David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, suggested that he is seen as the alternative to Thorpe if he is not fit enough to play next week.

“We will continue to monitor the fitness of the injured players and a decision will be made later this week as to their availability for the next round of domestic fixtures,” Graveney said. “We have already identified suitable replacements if those players are unavailable through injury. Ian Bell fully deserves this opportunity to press his claims for a regular place, but the batting order will be agreed by Duncan Fletcher (the coach) and Michael Vaughan.

“Rob Key misses out, which is unfortunate for him, but it does underline the depth of talent that we have at our disposal at present. Kevin Pietersen was also discussed as an option within the middle order, but the selectors decided to opt for the experience of Graham Thorpe.”

Unfortunately for Thorpe, Surrey do not have a Frizzell County Championship game next weekend, so the issue is not yet settled. Despite averaging 35 in South Africa, he was never at his most fluent and the buzz went round that his eyes had gone. They said the same when Alec Stewart had a terrible all-round match at Edgbaston just after losing the Test captaincy at the age of 36, a year older than Thorpe. Stewart played in 46 more Test matches.