BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (Reuters) - Graham Thorpe described his unbeaten 119 in the third Test against West Indies yesterday as one of the highlights of his career.
The Surrey left-hander came to England's rescue with his 13th Test hundred as the tourists recovered from 147 for seven to be all out for 226, a first-innings lead of two.
West Indies were 21 for one at the close, against a side who lead the four-match series 2-0 and are bidding for their first triumph in the Caribbean since 1968.
``I don't think I'll ever get above what I did at the Oval against South Africa but this is right behind it,'' Thorpe said, referring to the century he made last September on his comeback to the side after a 14-month sabbatical for personal reasons.
``It was a tough day and we needed a performance from someone and I was glad to be able to stand up and take it.''
Thorpe hit 13 boundaries in his second hundred at the Kensington Oval, but was assisted by some stout resistance from the England tail.
``Simon Jones and Steve Harmison did a fantastic job,'' he said.
``I sort of guessed the way (West Indies captain, Brian) Lara would play it (with a defensive field) and though it wasn't easy to score runs I was able to rotate the strike.''
Thorpe brought up his hundred with a cross-bat smash past bowler Fidel Edwards, a move the Surrey batsman admitted was slightly pre-meditated.
``I just thought I'd chance my arm and luckily it worked,'' he said.
``To score a hundred in Barbados, in front of all this English support, it's a great feeling.''
With the match now perfectly balanced, Thorpe said a total of more than 200 to chase for victory would be a tough task.
``Hopefully we can restrict them to below 200 (in their second innings) because the pitch is probably going to get trickier and anything more than that will be difficult to get.''