Thorpe backs England

Graham Thorpe played for England in a veterans' Twenty20 game against Australia © Getty Images

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Former England Test star Graham Thorpe has backed the current team to fight back in the Ashes series in the third Test at the WACA.

England trail 2-0 in their bid to retain the Ashes urn but the former Surrey batsman believes the side have the necessary qualities to win in Perth.

“Andrew Flintoff believes this is the biggest Test of his career so far and I can only endorse that statement,” said Thorpe in his column for Teletext.

“England are going to have to show some tremendous backbone to drag themselves back into the series but they have the ability to do so.

“It's important for the world of cricket that England keep the series close and even some of the locals here would secretly like them to stay in the hunt.

“The likes of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff have impressed me with their realistic but positive reaction and I'm confident the others can follow suit.

“Back in the bad old days of the ‘90s, you always felt we only had six or seven guys who could respond in these scenarios but things are different now.”

Andrew Flintoff will lead from the front in the third Test match

Thorpe also believes the WACA pitch may not be as slow as has been suggested after playing there in a veterans match on Wednesday.

“I played another Old England v Old Australia Twenty20 match at the WACA, which we won again, and I can tell you that the pitch played pretty quickly.

“Although the one we used is newer than the Test pitch, I still believe the strip they'll be using has a bit more life in it than everybody is expecting.”

Thorpe hopes this will help fast bowler Steve Harmison to put his poor form behind him and give close friend Flintoff a lift.

“Steve Harmison certainly owes his old mate Andrew Flintoff a big performance this time round.

“To be honest England need something out of him if they are to stand a chance of winning, which is why he'll play.

“Yet again the toss will be vital for England as they seek to build a winning total in the first innings.

“After the way the batsmen performed in Adelaide, they should be confident of being able to amass enough runs to win but doubts remain over the bowlers.

“England undoubtedly have the ability,” added Thorpe.