Michael Atherton fuelled speculation about his future today by maintaining an air of mystery about his plans to retire at the end of next summer.
The 32-year-old opener marked his 102nd Test for England by scoring a determined 83 and enabled them to reach 221-5 on the opening day of the final Test at The Oval.
His contribution, occupying the crease for nearly five hours, gave England a solid start with a 159-run opening stand with Marcus Trescothick.
It underlined his value to the team after he hintedg in an interview with the New Statesman that next year could be his last. Atherton refused to confirm or deny that statement.
He said: I don't look beyond the next game because anything could happen, but I'm still enjoying my cricket at the moment, so I want to play on for a while. West Indies captain Jimmy Adams broke with tradition and decided to bowl first at The Oval and was rewarded with England losing four wickets for 25 runs in 11 overs, leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo and Nixon McLean claiming two wickets apiece, to leave the Test finely poised.
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