The ECB has confirmed the death of Graham Thorpe, a former England and Surrey batter, at the age of 55.
Thorpe, who played 100 Tests for England between 1993 and 2005 and later served as batting coach for the senior men's side, became "seriously ill" in 2022, shortly after being chosen Afghanistan's head coach.
Thorpe amassed 6744 Test runs, including 16 hundred, and was capped 82 times in one-day internationals. He played for Surrey from 1988 to 2005, scoring nearly 20,000 runs for the county.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Graham Thorpe, MBE, has passed away. There seem to be no appropriate words to describe the deep shock we feel at Graham's death. More than one of England's finest-ever batters, he was a beloved member of the cricket family and revered by fans all over the world.
His skill was unquestioned, and his abilities and achievements across a 13-year international career brought so much happiness to his teammates and England and Surrey CCC supporters alike. Later, as a coach, he guided the best England Men's talent to some incredible victories across all formats of the game.
The cricket world is in mourning today. Our hearts go out to his wife Amanda, his children, father Geoff, and all of his family and friends during this unimaginably difficult time. We will always remember Graham for his extraordinary contributions to the sport,” ECB said in a statement.
Thorpe joined the ECB in 2010 as head batting coach, and he was a member of the backroom team that supervised England's Men's World Cup victory. He went on to work as Chris Silverwood's assistant coach, though he was one of several coaching staff members to leave following the 2021-22 Ashes.
His final England appearance was against Bangladesh at Chester-le-Street, marking his 100th Test cap in 2005.
The cricket fraternity took to social media to pay their tribute to Graham Thorpe and shared their condolences on the passing of the England cricketer.
Here are the posts:
