“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,” wrote Vaughan, the former England captain, on ‘X’.
Current England Test captain Ben Stokes posted a picture of him wearing a jersey with “Thorpe 564”, the latter’s Test cap number, written on the back with a series of five red heart emojis.
Between 1993 and 2005, Thorpe played 100 Test matches for England, scoring 6,744 runs at an average of 44.66, including 16 hundreds. Apart from representing Surrey in the domestic circuit from 1988 to 2005, he also played 82 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for England, amassing 2,380 runs at an average of 37.18, including 21 half-centuries, as per IANS.
“Heartbreaking to see Thorpey has passed away. He was one of my heroes growing up and I was fortunate to work with him. My thoughts go out to all of his friends and family during this tough time,” wrote Duckett, the current England opener, on ‘X’.
“Sad to hear about Graham Thorpe. He was a gritty and a fantastic batter who was always ready for a battle on the pitch. Heartfelt condolences to his friends and family,” wrote former India leg-spinner Anil Kumble on ‘X’.
“Such tragic news about Graham Thorpe, played with and against the little legend since the age of 10, great player and human being, so young, thoughts with his family and friends x,” wrote former England spinner Shaun Udal on ‘X’.
Before spending two years back at Surrey as their batting coach, Thorpe started his coaching career in Australia with the New South Wales team, where he worked with players like David Warner and Steve Smith.
Later, he became a national lead batting coach for the ECB, where he worked with younger development squads as well as the England Lions. Thorpe was appointed batting coach in 2013 for the senior England men’s white-ball squad, which went on to win the 2019 ODI World Cup in their own country.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Thorpe assisted Chris Silverwood as an assistant coach and even filled in as temporary head coach for England’s Twenty20 international series against Pakistan. Thrope was fired from his position after England lost the Ashes 0-4. In March 2022, he was named Afghanistan’s new head coach, but he became gravely ill and was unable to accept the position.