Instead Cork continues in India with the A team while Chris Lewis thought to be heading for oblivion

Instead, Cork continues in India with the A team, while Chris Lewis, thought to be heading for oblivion, gets another chance to re-establish himself at Test level.Ramprakash admits to feeling deflated. “You’ve got to try to keep picking yourself up all the time,” Ramprakash said. Since his international debut in 1991, England’s selectors have picked and then discarded him with the alacrity of Billy Bunter choosing the orange cremes in a box of chocolates.Unsurprisingly, his frustration has been tangible, and on more than one occasion his misdirected anger on the field has resulted in disciplinary action by Middlesex. Fortunately for England, he resurfaced three years later, the selectors believing the extra stint at county level had made him a better player.Mark Ramprakash, the latest in a long line of replacements sent for by England on this tour, has had an even rougher ride. On the few past occasions the selectors have been bold, talented newcomers have rarely been allowed long enough to establish themselves.At 21, Gooch himself was given an early chance, making a pair on his Test debut against the 1975 Australians at Edgbaston After only one more Test, he was dropped. Its punishing itineraries and robust standards of fielding now require regular transfusions of new blood, a fact long recognised by Australia and the West Indies, two sides who ruthlessly dispose of ageing players in favour of unproven youth in their search for long-term consistency.
Blooding young talent has never come naturally to England’s selectors, whose distrust of youth has been severely criticised on this tour.

Though they will be missed, their passing should not be mourned Cricket has become a young man’s game. Their presence should be enough to persuade that other senior citizen, Mike Gatting – who has never mastered their relentless pace – to call it a day, too, despite the rejuvenating effects of a hard-won century last week. For more than a decade, Gooch has been a pillar of granite in a batting order inclined to crumble, particularly against the West Indies, who tour England this summer. WIN, lose or draw, the Perth Test signifies the end of an era for English cricket.

Irrespective of the outcome, England prepare to face the future without Graham Gooch, their greatest run-scorer, who retires from Test cricket at the end of the match. Thorpe 50: 114 min, 86 balls, 9 fours.Umpires: K E Liebenberg and S G Randell.TV replay umpire: T A Prue.Match referee: J R Reid.. S Waugh 50: 173 min, 111 balls, 5 fours, 1 five.ENGLAND – FIRST INNINGS G A Gooch lbw b M Waugh 37(caught on back foot by nip-backer; 100 min, 76 balls, 4 fours)*M A Atherton c Healy b McGrath 4(gloved ball down leg side; 6 min, 3 balls, 1 four)M W Gatting b McGrath 0(chopped short ball on to stumps; 1 min, 1 ball)G P Thorpe not out 54(137 min, 100 balls, 9 fours)J P Crawley c Warne b M Waugh 0(edged ball off full length; 2 min, 3 balls)M R Ramprakash not out 14(43 min, 34 balls, 2 fours)Extras (nb1) 1Total (for 4, 148 min, 36 overs) 110Fall: 1-5 (Atherton), 2-5 (Gatting), 3-77 (Gooch), 4-77 (Crawley).To bat: C C Lewis, S J Rhodes, P A J DeFreitas, A R C Fraser, D E Malcolm.Bowling: Angel 9-3-31-0 (nb1) (5-1-20-0, 4-2-11-0); McGrath 14-4-45-2 (4-2-5-2, 6-1-21-0, 2-0-16-0, 2-1-3-0); Blewett 4-1-9-0; M Waugh 5-2-13-2; Warne 4-1-12-0 (one spell each).Progress: 50: 68 min, 17 overs 100: 131 min, 31.3 overs. Innings closed: 2.45pm.Slater 50: 117 min, 79 balls, 5 fours 100: 228 min, 171 balls, 10 fours M Waugh 50: 124 min, 98 balls, 6 fours. With England still needing 93 to avoid the follow-on, a big score by him would be a fitting reminder of the progress he continues to make at this level.(Second day; Australia won toss)AUSTRALIA – FIRST INNINGS (Overnight: 283-4)S R Waugh not out 99(288 min, 183 balls, 12 fours, 1 five)G S Blewett c Rhodes b Fraser 20(inside edge to keeper; 72 min, 67 balls, 3 fours)I A Healy c Lewis b DeFreitas 12(uppish cut to gully; 59 mins, 38 balls, 1 four)S K Warne c Rhodes b DeFreitas 1(defensive edge to keeper; 26 min, 17 balls)J Angel run out (Malcolm-Rhodes) 11(run out going for second run; 65 min, 43 balls, 2 fours)G D McGrath run out (DeFreitas) 0(run out after mix-up; 16 min, 10 balls)C J McDermott run out (Lewis-Gooch) 6(runner run out after being sent back; 26 min, 15 balls)Extras (b14 lb4 w4 nb9) 31Total (587 min, 135.5 overs) 402Fall (cont): 5-287 (Blewett), 6-320 (Healy), 7-328 (Warne), 8-386 (Angel), 9-388 (McGrath), 10-402 (McDermott).Bowling: Malcolm 31-6-93-0 (w1) (6-1-15-0, 6-0-35-0, 4-0-16-0, 10-2-25-0, 5-3-2-0); DeFreitas 29-8-91-3 (nb2) (6-1-23-0, 5-2-10-0, 8-2-24-1, 6-2-23-2, 4-1-11-0); Fraser 32-11-84-1 (6-0-26-0, 3-1-8-0, 3-1-10-0, 8-3-19-0, 7-5-7-1, 4-1-12-0, 1-0-2-0); Lewis31.5-8-73-3 (nb8) (7-1-13-2, 3-0-15-0, 4-0-13-0, 5-4-3-1, 9-2-22-0, 3.5-1-7-0); Gooch 1-1-0-0 (one spell); Ramprakash 11-0-43-0 (9-0-31-0, 2-0-12-0).Progress: Second day: 300: 409 min, 98.5 overs Lunch: 348-7 (S Waugh 65, Angel 5) 116 overs 350: 503 min, 118.4 overs 400: 580 min, 134.2 overs. Like his Surrey predecessor, John Edrich, Thorpe looks an assured and compact player, and he was very much the unsung hero of England’s Fourth Test win in Adelaide. No sooner had Waugh removed Gooch with one that nipped back, he dismissed John Crawley for a duck with a classic bit of three-card fast bowling; two snorting bouncers followed by one pitched up that left the batsman’s footwork in tatters as he edged to Warne at second slip.Soon after, Thorpe reached a spirited 50.

Being short of a bowler, Taylor, who was clearly loath to bowl ShaneWarne (he eventually came on in the 29th over) instead resorted to Mark Waugh.The change proved fortuitous. Being on his home ground did not help the tall West Australian and Gooch and Thorpe made the most of some lacklustre bowling.Ironically, it was probably Gooch’s best innings since Brisbane and both he and Thorpe played their shots, the former driving straight while the latter pulled the short ball with gusto. It was a classic faux pas from the twins, and and nobody would want to be in Mark’s shoes next time he and his brother visit their mum for tea.If the Australian innings ended in turmoil, England’s began just as badly, as Atherton followed up a punched drive for four with a glove down the leg-side to Healy. By his own admission, Atherton has “hit a bit of a wall” here in Perth, and as he trudgedoff back to the pavilion he must have been rueing what might have been had England taken their chances.Certainly, they had no fortune, as Mike Gatting chopped his first ball back on to his stumps to give McGrath the chance of a hat-trick, the lanky bowler going perilously close as Thorpe nearly followed suit by playing-on.Bowling into the Fremantle Doctor, McGrath extracted much more pace and bounce than his new-ball partner, Angel, this season’s leading wicket- taker in the Sheffield Shield. Unfortunately, tail-enders are rarely good judges of the quick single and Glenn McGrath aptly proved the point as his hesitation waltz left DeFreitas with the easiest of run-outs.Mark Waugh then completed the hat-trick on behalf of Craig McDermott, who had only just made it back to the ground after a strained back meant yet another scan in hospital.