England cricket legend Graham Thorpe’s family devastated by his tragic passing two years after falling ‘seriously ill’
GRAHAM THORPE’S father has revealed his family are devastated after the former cricketer’s passing.
The ex-England star has died aged 55 two years after falling seriously ill.
The wider cricket community including England captain Ben Stokes have paid tribute to Thorpe, who played 100 Tests for his country.
His father Geoffrey has spoken about his son’s death, revealing the family are “devastated”.
He told the Daily Mail: “This is an extremely sad day for our family. We are all devastated.”
Thorpe is survived by his second wife Amanda and four children, Henry, Amelia, Kitty and Emma. He separated from first wife Nicola in 2002.
Geoffrey did not comment on his son’s cause of death but Thorpe was admitted to hospital two years ago with a mystery illness.
A statement at the time from the Professional Cricketers’ Association, on his behalf of his family, confirmed Thorpe was “seriously ill and in receiving treatment”.
It continued: “His prognosis is unclear at this stage… our thoughts are with Graham and his family.”
Just days later, Stokes wore a shirt in support of Thorpe as he took to the field at Lords for a Test match against New Zealand.
Obituary: Graham Thorpe, 1969-2024
By John Etheridge, Cricket correspondent
GRAHAM THORPE, who has died aged 55, was England’s best batsman between the end of David Gower’s career and the start of Kevin Pietersen’s.
Indeed, many reckon he was at least as good as either Gower or Pietersen.
Thorpe was a nuggety left-hander who could attack or defend, display a carefree approach or iron-willed patience.
He was good against fast bowling and an absolute master facing spin.
Thorpe was one of the first names on any England team sheet for more than a decade in the 1990s and 2000s.
Thorpe later became a well-regarded coach in both England and Australia and is the man credited as the first to spot the potential of Joe Root.
He had a huge influence on Ben Stokes’ batting, especially against spin.
His innings of 113 not out against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2001 was one of the finest ever played for England.
It is rarely mentioned alongside the barnstorming efforts of Stokes or Ian Botham but, make no mistake, it was an all-time heroic performance in extreme heat against top-class spin.
Thorpe scored 32 not out in the second innings (out of 74-6) as England won by four wickets.
He was so shattered that he missed the team party that evening.
Thorpe was born in Farnham, Surrey, and the story goes that he switched to left-handed because the legside boundary in his back garden was shorter that side.
He was good enough at football to play for England age-group teams but opted for cricket.
He played for Surrey, England A and, in 1993, scored an Ashes century on his Test debut against Australia at Trent Bridge.
He made another brilliant century – 138 – against the Aussies at Edgbaston in 1997.
He and Nasser Hussain put on 288 for the fourth wicket and England won by nine wickets.
It was an almost unique match of England domination in an era of ritual hammerings by the old enemy.
Thorpe’s highest Test score was a blazing 200 not out from just 231 balls against New Zealand in Christchurch in 2002.
It was eclipsed by Nathan Astle’s brutal 222 from 168 deliveries in the same match but England still won comfortably.
In another famous win, Thorpe scored 64 not out as England beat Pakistan in Karachi in 2000 by six wickets.
It was virtually dark at the end and there were no floodlights.
Thorpe’s final Test innings was 66 not out against Bangladesh in 2005 but England decided to drop him to accommodate the recently-qualified Pietersen.
So Thorpe took no part in the greatest Test series of all time against Australia that summer.
He scored 16 centuries in exactly 100 Tests with an average of 44.66.
Thorpe moved into coaching, working in Australia for New South Wales, where his charges included youngsters called David Warner and Steve Smith.
He was England’s lead batting coach for several years and an assistant-coach on the Ashes tour of 2021-22.
Away from the pitch, Thorpe’s first marriage broke down very publicly and he missed some cricket as a result. He had two children.
Thorpe could be maudlin and would sometimes spend hours telling people about his problems.
He found love again and married Amanda and she became a regular when he toured as part of England’s coaching team.
He was his own man – he was fined £1,000 for refusing to attend an official function during the 1999 World Cup, for example – but I liked him a lot.
He was open, honest and with a self-deprecating humour.
After England’s defeat in the Fifth Test in Hobart, Thorpe lit a cigar while drinking indoors with players from both teams.
The police were called and he filmed their arrival on his ‘phone, providing a commentary. Within hours, the footage went public.
Thorpe lost his job after England’s 0-4 defeat in that series but, within weeks, he was hired to become head coach of Afghanistan.
He never took up that position, however, and in May of 2022, the PCA put out a statement revealing that Thorpe was “seriously ill” in hospital.
He was not seen again in cricket circles after that although some of his former team-mates tried to keep in touch.
The cricket world will be deeply shocked and saddened by his passing.
Instead of his usual name and number the back of Stokes’ shirt read: ‘Thorpe 564’, in honour of the batsman’s Test cap number.
After Thorpe’s death Stokes shared an image of himself wearing the shirt along with the caption: “”
Ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan also paid tribute to his former team-mate, writing: “RIP Thorpey. Thanks for all the advice throughout my career, you were a great player and a brilliant team-mate.
“You have gone far too young but you leave as an England cricket legend… Thoughts with all who knew Thorpey and to all the family xxx.”