Graham Thorpe dies aged 55

[tony p]

RIP.
Jesus, he was 2 years younger than me.

Fine player to watch, even when he was scoring runs against us. Saw his debut hundred at Trent Bridge in 1993.

 

[BazBall21]

The most devastating news to wake up to. In the 90s, England were so often outmatched. One man was a shining light more than anyone else. His name was Graham Thorpe. Very good v pace and spin and excellent in a crisis. He was a skilled fighter.

So many clutch knocks in winning causes. So many acts of defiance when the opposition were just too strong for the rest of the team.

I'm gutted. RIP Graham. One of England's greatest players.

 

[Heboric]

Terrible news
RIP

 

[The_CricketUmpire]

Very sad news R.I.P

Thoughts are with his family, friends and everyone at England cricket.

 

[honestbharani]

Still cant believe it. ****ing hell. Will always be one of my most favorite England cricketers of all time. RIP.

Underrated ODI great as well IMO. Amazing batsman, amazing talent and a great slip fielder to boot.

 

[Zinzan]

Shocking news, & yet another of that same middle aged vintage as Warne, and in Thorpe's case one of England's best bats of the late 90s early 2000s & was always the big wicket to take from a NZ fans POV.

RIP

 

[Molehill]

Really sad to hear this. For me, his most memorable knock was in THAT Test in Karachi. 4 of us left the Office and went down to the local to watch the end of it. He was certainly seeing it better than the Pakistani fielders at the end.

RIP

 

[morgieb]

Bloody hell. 55 is scarily young. It's crazy to see guys you grew up watching now dying.

Was always a really under-rated player. A shame he couldn't get that one Ashes win.

RIP.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Ditto to all the previous comments. Very sad news

 

[Pothas]

Just absolutely terrible news. Like so many on here that team was the one of my childhood and he was the best of them.

 

[HouHsiaoHsien]

Devastating news. One of the most underrated bats(Good record everywhere, except SA, and dominated peak Warne in Aus, peak Mcgrath and Warne at home, Ambrose and Walsh in 94, Murali in 2000, probably the best under 50 averaging bats apart from Crowe and Greenidge).

 

[the big bambino]

Dear me this is so sad. What a terrible shock.

 

[Silver Silva]

Terrible news ,everything good about the 90's slowly disappearing ..

 

[chris.hinton]

He was almost bradman like in Pakistan and Sri Lanka 2000/1

 

[Coronis]

rip

 

[NZTailender]

So young, no age at all. Was my fav English batsman for a long time, mostly for his style, but also because he wasn't a mediocre hack.

Deserved more recognition and accolades. Rip fella.

 

[howitzer]

RIP. He was my favourite English cricketer growing up, perhaps my favourite of all back then. Feel like I've lost a lot of my childhood today.

 

[jcas0167]

One of those rare batsmen that I enjoyed watching. There was definitely a time that I wanted one of those Kookaburra Bubble bats he used.

He seemed to be really well balanced at the crease (just reading he made the England schoolboys football side too). Speaking of his bats, 12 yr old Kane Williamson inherited one Thorpe left to someone following the 2002 tour and made a truckload of runs with it. I first saw Thorpe when he performed well in a struggling England side on the 94/95 Ashes tour against peak Warne and McDermott*. Bill Lawry called him a "hard working professional cricketer". A lynchpin of the side for a decade. Really sad he's passed far too soon. RIP.

* Highlights of his great ton at the WACA. https://x.com/henrymoeranBBC/status/1820380472234446873?t=fNsclofm5NX7628EeDhldQ&s=19

 

[StephenZA]

Sad News. RIP.

 

[Himannv]

Really shocking. Very underrated player as well. RIP.