Graham Thorpe’s family have said the former England batter took his own life after suffering with depression and anxiety.
Thorpe’s death at the age of 55 was announced last week. One of 17 men to play 100 Tests for England, the left-hander represented his country from 1993 to 2005 and hit 16 Test centuries. As a coach with the England and Wales Cricket Board in his post-playing career he was part of the backroom staff when the men’s side won the 2019 World Cup.
Thorpe was named head coach of Afghanistan in March 2022 but in May that year it was announced that he was “seriously ill” in hospital. In an interview with his former teammate Michael Atherton in the Times, Amanda, Thorpe’s wife, revealed he had attempted to take his own life, prompting “a prolonged stay in an intensive care unit”.
She said: “Despite glimpses of hope and of the old Graham, he continued to suffer from depression and anxiety, which at times got very severe. We supported him as a family and he tried many, many treatments but unfortunately none of them really seemed to work.
“He was so unwell in recent times and he really did believe that we would be better off without him and we are devastated that he acted on that and took his own life.”
“We are not ashamed of talking about it,” said Thorpe’s daughter Kitty. “There is nothing to hide and it is not a stigma. We were trying to help him get better before and trying to protect him, which is why we said nothing. This is the time now to share the news, however horrible it is. We’ve wanted to be able to talk and share and we’d now like to raise awareness, too.
“He had loved life and he loved us but he just couldn’t see a way out. It was heartbreaking to see how withdrawn he had become. He was not the same person. It was strange to see this person trapped in the body of Dad. That’s why we’ve been so happy that the many reflections have been about his life before this illness took over. I’m glad that’s how everyone does remember him, rightly so, as the complete character he was.”
Thorpe’s death has been met by tributes from former teammates, opponents as well as current England internationals. Wasim Akram, arguably the greatest left-arm fast bowler of all time, wrote: “He was a gentleman to the core, a very genuinely honest, passionate guy and the best left-handed batter I bowled to.”
A minute’s silence was held last week in Thorpe’s honour at the Oval – where the former Surrey batter began and ended his 17-year first-class career – before a men’s Hundred match between Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave.
Ben Stokes, the England Test captain, wore a shirt with Thorpe’s name and Test cap number, 564, at the toss for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s two years ago after Thorpe’s illness was announced.
“Great man, great loss to the cricket world, to his friends, his family, a very sad day when I got told the news,” Stokes told Sky Sports last week.
“He was my first batting coach when I got into the England setup with the England Lions. Spent a lot of time with him in the Test team as a batting coach. I learned a lot from Thorpey, got to know him as a person and just a great, great man. Had some unbelievable memories with him, incredible amount of laughs, and he’s going to be very sadly missed.”
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In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org