Graham Thorpe, the rock of the England batting, may have played his last match of the Australian tour because of his continuing back problems.

The Surrey left-hander, who missed the second Test in Perth, had been using the game here against Victoria to prove his fitness for the third Test starting in Adelaide on Friday.

After batting for 40 minutes yesterday and making one run, he retired glumly to the dressing room following a conversation with England's physiotherapist Wayne Morton during a drinks interval.

Thorpe was suffering from more spasms, which is to be expected in someone undergoing stringent rehabilitation after surgery in the summer. England's tour manager Graham Gooch said it cast doubt on Thorpe's selection for the rest of the tour. The next two days will be crucial.

The discomfort, which clears up when he is not playing, appears to be in a broad band across his lower back. Until the last 14 days Morton had been pleased with Thorpe's post-operative progress on this tour.