Graham Thorpe would have turned 56 on Friday. The England cricketers and the fans remembered the batter, who passed away last August, after being struck by a train at a railway station in Surrey, with a coroner ruling the death a suicide.
It was indeed a ‘A Day for Thorpey’ at The Oval, as his friends and colleagues remembered the left-hander, who scored 6,744 Test runs at an average of 44.66 in 100 matches from 1993 to 2005.
The players wore headbands, with a silhouette of Thorpe and his initials, during the training and his wife Amanda and daughter Emma were also present to ring the bell ahead of the second day’s play.
The players wore headbands, with a silhouette of Thorpe and his initials.
| Photo Credit:
Shayan Acharya
The players wore headbands, with a silhouette of Thorpe and his initials.
| Photo Credit:
Shayan Acharya
While Joe Root looked emotional during the event, Ben Stokes, ahead of the event, remembered the impact Thorpe had on his career and the team. “Thorpey has been a very influential character as a player and a coach in English cricket. A few of us in that dressing room spent a lot of time with him coming through the ranks and, as we got into the main (England) team, Thorpey spent a lot of years around us,” Stokes said.
Surrey, the club that Thorpe represented throughout his career, also paid tribute to him with a mural outside the ground.
Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the state’s (Tamil Nadu) health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416 and SNEHA’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050