Graham Thorpe has passed away at 55. The former England cricketer and coach passed away on Monday. It is a massive loss for the cricketing world.
Graham Thorpe was one of the famous English cricketers of his time. He collected 100 Test caps through the years 1993-2005 in his glorious career, showering 16 test centuries. His exceptional batting technique proven their ability that he was among the top players in the world at his time. In the course of his illustrious career, Thorpe scored 6,744 runs in Test matches at an average of 44.66, in addition to having played 82 one-day internationals. He won numerous caps for county team Surrey—17 years of his career were dedicated to them. Thorpe retired in 2005 and went into coaching, affecting the England international teams as a coach from 2010 up to 2022. His career was saturated with coaching; he led England’s top talent to big wins in all formats of the game. They stated, “There is a sense that no expression of words can do justice to the level of devastation felt at Graham’s passing.” They went on, emphasizing how well-liked Thorpe was by ardent supporters all across the world as well as in the cricket community. One of the greatest ever batter that England has ever produced made Thorpe so dear to his team members as well as to the fans, whether of England or the Surrey CCC brand. His coaching career left him a lasting impression on cricket history, helping to write the book on the sport. After the 2021-2022 Ashes series, Thorpe was due to take up the head coach position of Afghanistan but did not take up the role after being diagnosed with serious health issues revealed by the Professional Cricketers’ Association in May 2022. Tributes have flooded in from cricketing greats past and present for Thorpe. Former England captain Michael Vaughan paid tribute to Thorpe, saying: “RIP Thorpey. Thanks for all the advice throughout my career, you were a great player and a brilliant team-mate.” Current England captain Ben Stokes put out a touching tribute with a photo showing him with a shirt with “Thorpe 564” on it—the number being the late cricketer’s Test cap number. Following the news of his death, Oli Slipper, chairman of Surrey, summed it up best in his tribute: “Graham is one of the great sons of Surrey, and there is overwhelming sadness that he will never walk through the gates of the Oval again.” Slipper then spoke on the huge part played in the club life by Thorpe as he further added: “We have all been left with a massive sense of loss.”.
