Thorpe has been troubled by back stiffness for the past two days, forcing England to include Graeme Hick for the match at the WACA Ground.

Hick joined England's squad last week after injury worries to another England player, former captain Michael Atherton. Atherton has recovered from his back complaint and hick was to have flown home next Monday, but he was included in the side as a cover for Thorpe.

England also included rookie paceman Alex Tudor in the squad and recalled fast bowler Dean Headley after both missed the first Test which ended in a draw in Brisbane. However, the visitors will not finalize their starting team until tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, Australia have given pace bowler Jason Gillespie instructions to bowl as fast as possible and to forget about his injury-plagued past 18 months.

Gillespie israted the quickest bowler in the country and said he was relishing the prospect of bowling at the WACA, which traditionally helps the pacemen.

In a warning to England's batsmen, the 23-year-old said he had lost none of his fearsome pace despite suffering stress fractures of the lower back and leg and foot injuries.

Gillespie is certain to be included in a pace lineup alongside Glenn McGrath and dual purpose bowler Colin Miller at the expense of either Damien Fleming or Michael Kasprowicz.

The squads are:

Australia (from): Mark Taylor (Capt), Michael Slater, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Ian Healy, Colin Miller, Damien Fleming, Michael Kasprowicz, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath.

England (from): Alec Stewart (Capt), Michael Atherton, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Mark Ramprakash, John Crawley, Graeme Hick, Dominic Cork, Robert Croft, Darren Gough, Alan Mullally, Dean Headley, Alex Tudor.