Graham Paul Thorpe (1 August 1969 – 4 August 2024) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, and represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 100

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

matches. He also played 82

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s (ODIs) including appearances at the 1996 and 1999 World Cups and deputised as captain on three occasions. A left-handed middle-order batsman, Thorpe made his first-class debut for Surrey in 1988, becoming a regular in their side the following season. Following four winters of England A tours he made his full international debut in 1993, scoring a century on his Test debut against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He was briefly dropped in 1994 but became an England regular through consistent scoring, although he struggled for a time to convert half-centuries into three-figure scores. After beginning 1997 with back-to-back centuries he was England's leading scorer and player of the

Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, i ...

, which led to his selection as a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

. After 10 seasons of touring he opted out of the South Africa series at the turn of the millennium, before returning refreshed to play some of his best cricket as England won a subcontinent series against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in 2000–01. In early 2002, Thorpe scored the then third fastest double century in Test history as he made his highest Test score of 200 not out against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The innings came at a time when his marriage was breaking down, and this led him to first retire from ODIs before taking a break from cricket entirely. He returned for England after over a year out, scoring a century at his home ground,

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

. He was a member of the England side that won a national record eight successive Tests in 2004, and the following year made his 100th Test appearance. Thorpe retired from playing in 2005 after non-selection for the Ashes and took up coaching positions with

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Surrey and England. He died in August 2024, aged 55.

Early life

Graham Thorpe was born in

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

on 1 August 1969, the third of three boys to Geoff and Toni Thorpe. Graham's brothers are Ian, four years older, and Alan, two years older. Geoff Thorpe worked as a draughtsman and then as an engineering surveyor. Thorpe first played men's cricket for village team

Wrecclesham Wrecclesham is a village on the southern outskirts of the town of Farnham in Surrey, England. Its local government district is the Waverley, Surrey, Borough of Waverley. History It was once in the estate of Henry of Blois, Henry of Westminster ...

aged 13, moving on to play alongside his brothers at Farnham in the

Surrey Championship The Surrey Championship is a cricket organisation in Surrey running 6 divisions for 1st & 2nd XI cricket, 4 for 3rd XI and 4 for 4th XI. Since 2000 it has been a designated ECB Premier League. The whole family had a long association with the club, Ian and Alan would go on to be captain while Geoff served as chairman and Toni acted as scorer. Thorpe was also a promising footballer: he represented England Schools at under-18 level as a midfielder and had a trial at Brentford. He was educated as

Weydon School Weydon School is a secondary school, secondary Academy (English school), academy school located in Weydon Lane, Farnham, Surrey, England. It is the lead school of the Weydon Multi Academy Trust. History Opened as Weydon County Secondary School ...

and

Farnham College Farnham College is a coeducational sixth form college in Farnham in the English county of Surrey. It has a single campus in a residential area just to the south of Farnham town centre, and is now a foundation college. The majority of its land i ...

, but did not complete his A-Levels and was unsure what he would do for a career until offered a two-year contract by Surrey.

Cricket career

Early career

Thorpe made his first-class debut aged 18 for Surrey against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

in June 1988. Batting at number eight he made scores of 15 and 16 and also claimed two wickets, his first wicket being that of

David Gower David Ivon Gower (born 1 April 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 T ...

lbw. Just a few days later Thorpe scored his maiden first-class century against

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, his unbeaten century taking 122 minutes. He made two further first-team appearances that season, scoring 19 against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

in the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

and 15 on his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

debut against

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

. He established himself in the Surrey team in 1989, scoring his maiden Championship century at

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

against a

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

attack featuring

Malcolm Marshall Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as one of the greatest and one of the most accomplished fast bowlers of the modern era in Test cricket ...

. He surpassed 1,000 runs for the season at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 45, which led to selection for England A on their tour of Zimbabwe in 1989–90. He would go on three further tours with England A. The 1990 season broke records for high scoring, however Thorpe struggled with an average of 27 and made just three half-centuries from 18 matches, he ended the campaign playing for the second XI. The following season was more successful, he scored his maiden List A century against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

when opening the batting. Towards the end of the season he had a spell of three centuries in five County Championship

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

. He also top scored with 93 in the

Natwest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...

final although Surrey lost by four wickets to Hampshire. He was awarded his county cap on 12 September 1991. Thorpe had his most productive season of his career in 1992, amassing 1,895 runs at an average of 51.21. He was a consistent scorer recording fifties in the County Championship 13 times before finally passing three figures on 31 August. He converted the innings against

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

into a maiden double century and shared in a stand of 211 from 34 overs with

Ali Brown Alistair Duncan Brown (born 11 February 1970), commonly known as Ali Brown, is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club, before moving to Nottinghamshire for the 2009 season. He was nicknamed "Lordy", in allusion t ...

1993

In May 1993, Thorpe received his first senior international call-up as part of a 13-man squad for the

Texaco Trophy The Texaco Trophy was the name used for One Day International cricket tournaments held in England from 1984 until 1998. The series were sponsored by American oil company Texaco replacing the previous sponsorship by the UK's Prudential (between 19 ...

, a three-match ODI series against the touring Australians. On 19 May, he made his ODI debut at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in the first match of the series. During Australia's innings he took a catch off the bowling of fellow ODI debutant

Andy Caddick Andrew Richard Caddick (born 21 November 1968) is a former cricketer who played for England as a fast bowler in Tests and ODIs. At 6 ft 5in, Caddick was a successful bowler for England for a decade, taking 13 five-wicket hauls in Test mat ...

and in England's run chase Thorpe, batting at number 6, made 31 in a four-run defeat, ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' considered it "an intelligent innings in difficult circumstances". He added scores of 36 and 22 in the rest of the series. In Australia's tour match with Surrey which followed, Thorpe took his career best bowling figures of 4/40. Thorpe was not selected for the first two

Ashes Ashes may refer to: * Ash, the solid remnants of fires. Media and entertainment Art * ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch Film * ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda * ''Ashes'' (1922 film), ...

Tests but the selectors made wholesale changes after an innings defeat in the second Test at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

including calling up Thorpe despite him being viewed as 'out of form' with a season average of 25. On 1 July, Thorpe made his Test debut against Australia at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...

alongside three other debutants (

Mark Ilott Mark Christopher Ilott (born 27 August 1970) is a former English professional cricketer. Having previously played with the minor county Hertfordshire, Ilott began his career with Essex in 1988. A left-arm swing bowler in the mould of John ...

Martin McCague Martin John McCague (born 24 May 1969) is a former professional cricketer who played for the England cricket team in three Test matches in 1993 and 1994. McCague was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in Australia where he began his professio ...

and

Mark Lathwell Mark Nicholas Lathwell (born 26 December 1971) is a former English cricketer who played in two Test matches in 1993. Lathwell played the entirety of his first-class cricket career for Somerset County Cricket Club. Early career and England U19 ...

). Thorpe scored 6 in the first innings before being caught at

gully A gully is a landform A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given ter ...

off a short ball from

Merv Hughes Mervyn Gregory Hughes (born 23 November 1961) is a former Australian cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler, he represented Australia in 53 Test matches between 1985 and 1994, taking 212 wickets. He played 33 One Day Internationals, taking 38 wicke ...

. In England's second innings, Thorpe came to the wicket at 159/5 and shared in a 150-run sixth wicket partnership with captain

Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning 1973 until 1997, he was ...

, Thorpe ended the fourth day on 88

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

and completed his century on the final morning, finishing unbeaten on 114 as Gooch declared. The Test match was drawn with Thorpe named as

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

. By scoring a century on Test debut he became the 14th England player to achieve the feat and the first since Frank Hayes in 1973. Thorpe made a half-century in the fifth Test at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

but missed the final Test at

after breaking his left thumb in a net session on the first morning of the match. He ended the series with an average of 46 and was one of only two England players to reach a hundred in the series, his partnership with Gooch at Trent Bridge was England's longest of the series.

1994

Thorpe was selected for England's tour of the West Indies in early 1994 and played all five Tests. He top-scored in the third Test at

Queen's Park Oval The Queen's Park Oval is a sports stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, used mostly for cricket matches. It opened in 1896. Privately owned by the Queen's Park Cricket Club, it is currently the second largest capacity cricket ground in ...

with 86 before England collapsed to 46 all out in their second innings. In the fourth Test at

Kensington Oval The Kensington Oval is a stadium located in the western part of Bridgetown, Barbados. It is the pre-eminent sporting facility on the island and is primarily used for cricket. It has hosted many important cricket games between local, regional, ...

he scored 84, adding 150 in partnership with Surrey team-mate

Alec Stewart Alec James Stewart (born 8 April 1963) is an English former cricketer, and former captain of the England cricket team, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman. He is the fifth-most- capped En ...

, as England won their only Test of the tour. Thorpe averaged 26.55 across the series, with ''Wisden'' assessing: "Among the fringe batsmen Graham Thorpe made much the most progress, though he, too, had to cure technical problems before batting with authority late in the tour." Thorpe was dropped for the home series with

in 1994, new chairman of selectors

Ray Illingworth Raymond Illingworth Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (8 June 1932 – 25 December 2021) was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. , he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20, ...

made wholesale changes with only six of the West Indies touring squad retained and opted for just five specialist batsmen with a five-man bowling attack including all-rounder

Craig White Craig White (born 1969) is an English former international cricketer. He is currently a cricket coach. Domestic career Born 16 December 1969, Morley, West Yorkshire, England, White was brought up in Australia, but later moved back to England, ...

. While back playing for Surrey, Thorpe made the highest List A score of his career against Lancashire in the

NatWest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...

, the innings of 145 not out coming from 135 deliveries. He shared a 180-run partnership with David Ward which set a county record for the competition and Surrey's total of 343 was also their highest in one-day cricket at the time. Later that summer Thorpe was recalled by England for the second Test of the

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

, taking the place of an injured White. Thorpe, batting at number four, scored 72 from 112 balls including 13 boundaries during England's first innings, ''Wisden'' picked out "his urgency, instinctive placement and crisp driving". He added 73 in the second innings and 79 in the final Test at The Oval to end the series with an average of 79.66. In his series summary,

Scyld Berry Anthony Scyld Ivens Berry, known as ''Scyld Berry'' (pronounced ''Shild'', born 28 April 1954) is an English journalist and cricket correspondent of the ''Daily Telegraph''. He was editor of ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' from 2008 until 2011. P ...

praised Thorpe's attacking play for enlivening England who prior to his introduction had taken a defensive approach to their batting. In the ODI series with South Africa that followed the Tests, Thorpe scored his maiden ODI half-century. Thorpe was selected for the 1994–95 Ashes tour and played in all five Tests as Australia won the series 3–1. He contributed three fifties in the first four Tests including 83 in England's solitary victory at

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. In the fifth Test at

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

he scored his second Test century with an innings of 123 from 218 balls including 19 fours. His partnership of 158 with

Mark Ramprakash Mark Ravin Ramprakash (born 5 September 1969) is an English former cricketer and cricket coach. Outside of cricket, Ramprakash won the Strictly Come Dancing series 4, fourth series of ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2006. He is currently the Pr ...

recovered England's first innings from 77/4 but after Thorpe was dismissed, stumped off a

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batter for Victoria, Hampshire ...

top-spinner, they collapsed going on to lose the match by 329 runs. Thorpe was England's leading run-scorer across the series with 444 runs at an average of 49.33. ''Wisden'' assessed that: "Thorpe appeared to have the temperament, as well as the technique, to be a fixture in the team for several years." In the

1994–95 Australian Tri-Series The 1994–95 World Series was a One Day International (ODI) cricket quadrangular where Australia played host to England and Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic o ...

scheduled during the Ashes series, he made his highest ODI score of 89 against

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

The Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

however after batting for 155 minutes in 90°F heat he was taken to hospital with dehydration and heat exhaustion.

1995

Thorpe continued his consistent scoring into the 1995 home series with West Indies, two fifties in the first two Tests extended his sequence of half-centuries to nine in nine Tests since being recalled the previous summer. During the second innings of the second Test, he was struck first ball by an unintentional beamer from

Courtney Walsh Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ (born 30 October 1962) is a Jamaican former cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the team in 22 Test matches. He played as a fast bowler and is considered one of the all-time greats, ...

and spent the night at St Mary's Hospital but returned the following day to make 42. Thorpe's highest score of the series, 94, came in the fourth Test at Old Trafford where England won by six wickets to level the series at 2–2. Two further fifties saw him end the six-match series as England's leading run-scorer with 506 at 42.16. He became the first England player to surpass 500 runs against the West Indies in a home series. During the tour to South Africa in 1995–96, Thorpe struggled across the Test series making a total of 184 runs at 26.28. His highest score, and only half-century, came in the deciding Test at

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region * Newlands, Western Australia, a town in the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup Ireland * Newlands Cross, Dublin, named after the former Newlands ...

where he was dismissed run out for 59 in controversial fashion. The umpire

Dave Orchard David Lynton Orchard (born 24 June 1948) is a South African former first-class cricketer, and former international umpire who stood in 44 Test matches and 107 One-Day Internationals. Biography Orchard was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. ...

had originally adjudged him to be not out before South African captain

Hansie Cronje Wessel Johannes Cronje (25 September 1969 – 1 June 2002) was a South African international cricketer and captain of the South Africa national cricket team in the 1990s. A right-handed all-rounder, as captain Cronje led his team to victory in 2 ...

persuaded Orchard to get the

third umpire The third umpire (or TV Umpire) is an off- field umpire used in some cricket matches, particularly international matches. Their role is to make the final decision in questions referred to them by the two on-field umpires or the players. The ...

to check the TV replays which did show Thorpe to be out. Cronje was fined half his match fee for dissent but England went on lose the match and with it the series. Thorpe had a better ODI series, scoring three half-centuries from six matches and was England's highest scorer. Thorpe was selected for the 1996 World Cup and played in all six of England's matches. During the group game with

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, he scored 89 from 82 balls, equalling his highest ODI score. He also contributed an unbeaten half-century against Pakistan. In what was a disappointing tournament for England, beaten by all four Test-playing nations they played, he was their leading scorer with 254 at an average of 63.50.

1996

England began the 1996 season with an ODI series against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Thorpe was named man of the match in the second ODI at Headingley as he led England to a six-wicket victory with an unbeaten 79. In the following match at Old Trafford, Thorpe took the wickets of

Vikram Rathour Vikram Rathour (born 26 March 1969) is a former Indian cricketer and cricket coach, who played in 6 Tests and 7 ODIs from 1996 to 1997. He was a right-handed opening batsman. Rathour was a prolific run scorer at the first class level, scori ...

and

Sourav Ganguly Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; natively spelled as Gangopadhyay; born 8 July 1972), also known as Dada (meaning ''"elder brother"'' in Bengali language, Bengali), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer. He is popularly called the ...

, these would be his only wickets at international level. Across the subsequent Test series with India, Thorpe scored 193 runs at 48.25 with a highest score of 89. Pakistan were the second touring side of the summer with the Test series starting at Lord's. In England's first innings Thorpe top scored with 77, however there was criticism of his increasing failure to convert his innings into centuries this being his 19th score of more than 50 in Test cricket of which only twice he had reached a hundred. England lost the Lord's Test and again at the Oval where Thorpe had added another fifty to end the Test series with 159 runs at 31.80. In county cricket, Thorpe had a strong season with six centuries, including five in his nine County Championship matches. He was the first English player to pass 1,000 runs for the season, and ended the campaign with an average of 62.76 in all first-class cricket. He also made seven appearances for Surrey as they won the Sunday League, the county's first trophy in 14 years. England toured Zimbabwe at the end of 1996 to play their first Test series against the nation. Thorpe was in poor form on the tour with ''Wisden'' describing him in the first Test as "horribly out-of-touch". He was able to score 50 not out in the second Test before final day rain cut the match short.

1997

At the end of the Zimbabwe tour in 1996–97, England travelled on to New Zealand. In the first Test at

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, Thorpe was struck by a bouncer from

Chris Cairns Christopher Lance Cairns (born 13 June 1970) is a former New Zealand cricketer and former ODI captain, who played for the New Zealand cricket team as an all-rounder. Cairns finished his Test career with a batting average of 33.53 and a bowling ...

and been at fault for a run out of

John Crawley John Paul Crawley (born 21 September 1971) is a former English first-class cricketer who played at international level for England and county cricket for Hampshire and Lancashire. Crawley, one of three brothers who all played first-class cric ...

before going on to make 119, ending his wait for a third Test century. He made it consecutive hundreds at

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

as he scored 108, sharing century partnerships with

Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain (born 28 March 1968) is an English cricket commentator and former player who captained the England cricket team between 1999 and 2003, with his overall international career extending from 1990 to 2004. A pugnacious right-hande ...

and Crawley in the process. Australia toured England in 1997 and ahead of the Ashes played three ODIs. England won all three matches with six wickets being the margin of victory on each occasion, Thorpe was unbeaten in the first and third match run chases with scores of 75 and 45. The first Test of the Ashes took place at Edgbaston, England dismissed Australia for 118 and were 50/3 in reply when Thorpe joined Hussain at the crease. The pair batted through to the close adding 150 in 169 minutes with ''Wisden'' stating that Thorpe's "cutting and sweeping of Warne were crucial in seizing the initiative". On the second morning Thorpe reached his third Test century in four Tests as the stand contributed a further 135 in the pre-lunch session. He was dismissed to

Glenn McGrath Glenn Donald McGrath (; born 9 February 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer whose career spanned 14 years. He was a fast-medium pace bowler and is considered one of cricket's greatest bowlers and a leading contributor to Aus ...

's first ball after lunch for 138, a Test best score at the time. The partnership of 288 with Hussain was the highest for England against Australia for the fourth wicket. England won the match by nine wickets but Australia fought back by dismissing England for 77 in the drawn second Test and winning the third comfortably. In the fourth Test at Headingley, Australia were 50/3 in their first innings when Thorpe dropped a routine first slip catch from Matthew Elliott off the bowling of debutant Mike Smith. Smith would never take a Test wicket while Elliott, who was on 29 at the time, would go on to score 199 as Australia won the match by an innings. Having failed to pass 30 in six innings since the first Test there were calls for Thorpe to lose his place in the team, but he was retained by the selectors. In the fifth Test he scored 53 and 82 not out, the latter innings played as wickets were falling at the other end with six of his partners contributing just 14 whilst he added 68. Australia won the series by winning the match but England were victorious the sixth Test at The Oval. In a low-scoring match, Thorpe made the only half-century of the game with ''Wisden'' describing it as "an innings of exceptional quality and tenacity". He ended the series as England's top run-scorer with 453 at 50.33, and was chosen as their player of the series. Thorpe ended the season with a double-century for Surrey against County Championship leaders Glamorgan, batting for 438 minutes in making a then career best score of 222. Earlier in the campaign he featured in Surrey's

Benson & Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

victory over

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. For his performances during the

1997 English cricket season The 1997 cricket season was the 98th in which the County Championship has been an official competition. The season centred on the six-Test Ashes series against Australia. England won the first, at Edgbaston, by the decisive margin of nine wic ...

he was selected as one of the

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in its 1998 edition of the ''

Almanack An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other tab ...

''. In December 1997, England won a four-team ODI tournament in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

, Thorpe was named man of the match in the final after he scored an unbeaten 66 to guide England to a three-wicket victory over the West Indies.

1998

England's tour of West Indies in early 1998 began dramatically as the first Test was abandoned after an hour due to a dangerous pitch. The uneven bounce led to several batsmen being struck including Thorpe who was hit twice during his 10-ball innings, play was ended after the second such blow. The West Indies won two of the next three Tests with Thorpe only managing 111 runs across those matches. On the first day of the fifth Test, he

retired hurt In cricket, a batter may retire from an innings at any time when the ball is dead; they must then be replaced by a teammate who has not been dismissed. The most common reason for retirement is if the batter becomes injured or unwell, in which ...

at lunch due to back spasms with England at 55/4. After a painkilling injection he was able to return to the crease at the fall of the next wicket and batting alongside

ended the day unbeaten on 50. The following day Thorpe reached his sixth Test century, dismissed for 103 having batted for 395 minutes and shared in a 205-run sixth wicket partnership with Ramprakash. In setting up a second innings declaration Thorpe added 36 off 35 balls which included three pulled fours in a single

Curtly Ambrose Sir Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose KCN (born 21 September 1963) is an Antiguan former cricketer who played 98 Test matches for the West Indies. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, he took 405 Test wickets at ...

over, however final day rain denied England a chance of squaring the series. He was reprimanded for dissent by the

match referee A match referee is an official appointed to oversee professional cricket matches. Match referees for Test matches and One Day Internationals are appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Most matches below international level do not ...

in the final Test following his first innings dismissal. Thorpe remained at the wicket for too long on being given out lbw, replays did show Thorpe had got an inside edge on the ball. In the second innings and facing a large deficit, Thorpe and Hussain put on a partnership of 168 in attempting to draw the match, however the run out of Hussain prompted a collapse of seven wickets for 26 runs as England succumbed to an innings defeat. Thorpe was left 84 not out having faced 322 balls. His series tally was 339 runs at 42.37. Thorpe played in the first game of the subsequent ODI series before returning home early from the tour due to the back injury sustained in the fifth Test. Thorpe was named in England's ODI squad for the home series with South Africa but suffered a reoccurrence of the back injury in a practise session and missed all three matches. To prove his fitness ahead of the Test series he played a County Championship match against Kent and took six catches in their first innings, one short of the first-class record for a fielder. Across the first two Tests he scored 63 runs, before his back injury flared up during the Old Trafford Test. He was moved down the order to number eight in the first innings but managed only a six-ball duck. He lasted just three balls in the second innings as he completed the only

pair Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to: Government and politics * Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin * ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords * ''Pair'', the Fren ...

of his Test career. The injury meant he was not selected for the fourth Test bringing an end to his run of 44 consecutive Test appearances. After an operation to remove a cyst from his lower back, he returned to cricket for Surrey's final match of the season against Leicestershire. Thorpe was included in England's 17-man squad for the 1998–99 Ashes series. He began the tour well by scoring a career-best 223 not out in a warm-up match against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, putting together an unbroken partnership of 377 with Ramprakash which broke the record for highest stand by an overseas team in Australia. In the first Test he scored 77 but his back problem resurfaced and he missed the second Test. He suffered more back pain while batting in the tour game against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

which forced an end to his tour.

1999

Thorpe was selected in the squad for the 1999 World Cup staged in England and proved his fitness in the build-up by scoring two ODI fifties in two days during the Sharjah triangular tournament. Despite home advantage at the World Cup England failed to progress out of the group stage. Thorpe top scored in their win over Zimbabwe, however defeat to South Africa and other results meant they had to beat India to progress. In the decisive match Thorpe scored 36 before receiving a contentious lbw decision from

Javed Akhtar Javed Akhtar (born 1945) is an Indian screenwriter, lyricist and poet. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007, two of India's highest civili ...

, England going on to lose by 63 runs. Thorpe returned to the Test team for the four-match series with New Zealand. At the end of the first Test he was jeered by the crowd and received criticism for denying nightwatchman

Alex Tudor Alex Jeremy Tudor (born 23 October 1977) is an English former professional cricketer who spent two spells with Surrey County Cricket Club as well as playing for Essex. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. He was twice award ...

the chance to score a century. Tudor was on 84 as Thorpe arrived at the crease but by outscoring him Tudor was left 99 not out when England reached their target. During the second Test, captain Hussain broke a finger while fielding and left Thorpe to deputise in his place. England lost the match convincingly by nine wickets after which

Mark Butcher Mark Alan Butcher (born 23 August 1972) is an English cricket commentator and former English Test cricketer, who played county cricket for Surrey from 1992 until his retirement in 2009. He was a left-handed batsman, and occasional right-arm medi ...

was chosen as stand-in captain for the next Test. Thorpe finished the series with 147 runs at 24.50, his highest score of 44 came in the defeat at The Oval which saw England lose the series and drop to the bottom of the ''Wisden World Championship''. In a difficult international summer, Thorpe did enjoy success with Surrey, making nine appearances as they won the

title for the first time since 1971. Thorpe opted out of the winter tour of South Africa citing family reasons having been on England tours, including those with England A, for the previous 10 years.

2000

After missing the South Africa series Thorpe was omitted from the first set of central contracts awarded by the ECB for the 2000 English summer. Thorpe struggled for form at the start of the season while playing for Surrey, making 112 runs in nine innings before scoring a century against Somerset in mid-June. He was recalled by England firstly for the ODI squad to play in the Triangular Series and following that to the Test squad for the third match of the West Indies series. His return to Test cricket after 11 months began inauspiciously as he was dismissed lbw from the first delivery he faced, a

slower ball In the sport of cricket, a slower ball is a slower-than-usual delivery from a fast bowler. The bowler's intention is to deceive the batsman into playing too early so that he either misses the ball completely or hits it high up in the air to offe ...

from Courtney Walsh that Thorpe lost sight of and ducked into. He contributed scores of 46 and 40 as England won the next two Tests, the latter innings was again ended by a Walsh slower ball. The tour of Pakistan in late 2000 began with England successfully chasing over 300 in an ODI for the first time as they won their opening match, Thorpe scored an unbeaten 64 in putting on 138 in 17 overs with

Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (born 6 December 1977), is an English television and radio presenter and former international cricketer. Flintoff played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all-rounders, a fast bowler, middle-ord ...

. In the first Test at

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, Thorpe batted for over seven hours to score 118, the innings contained just two boundaries and only one of which was struck before he reached a hundred making it the record for fewest boundaries in a Test century. He added 166 in partnership with Craig White, breaking a sixth-wicket record for England-Pakistan contests. The match was drawn as was the second Test where Thorpe's stay at the crease lasted 323 minutes as he made 79. A collapse from the hosts in the third Test at

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

left England a target of 176 in 44 overs, Thorpe scored an unbeaten 64 to see them to victory, completing the run chase in near darkness due to Pakistan's slow over-rate. His series aggregate was 284 runs at 56.80, ''Wisden'' praised his performance picking out his "judgment of line and length, limitless patience and mental strength".

2001

England's second

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

of the winter took them to Sri Lanka where the hosts dominated the first Test winning by an innings. Thorpe made contributions of 59 and 46 as England won the second Test in a match overshadowed by poor umpiring decisions. In the deciding Test at

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Thorpe held England's first innings together scoring 113 not out from a total of 249 with the next highest score being 26, although he was fortunate to survive a bat-pad catch that was given not out when on 73. On a dramatic third day, 22 wickets fell including Sri Lanka bowled out for 81. In pursuit of a small target of 74 the tourists lost six wickets but a calm 32 from Thorpe completed the victory. He ended the series as leading run-scorer with a tally of 269 runs at an average of 67.25. Captain Nasser Hussain left the tour with a thigh injury after the Tests and Thorpe was chosen as acting captain for the ODI series, Sri Lanka won all three matches convincingly including inflicting a first ever 10-wicket ODI defeat on England in the last game. In the two-Test home series with Pakistan, Thorpe scored 80 during England's innings victory at Lord's in the first Test. In the second Test at Old Trafford, Thorpe made his ninth Test century going on to equal his Test best score of 138. He and

Michael Vaughan Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England cricket captain, England captain for the England test team, test team from 2003 to 2008 ...

came together at 15/2 in response to Pakistan's 403 before sharing a partnership of 267 which was a record for England against Pakistan. Thorpe's dismissal brought collapses in both innings with Pakistan taking eight wickets in the final session to win the match. His 228 runs in three innings saw him named as England's player of the series. Thorpe sustained a calf injury in the warm-up before the opening match of the

Natwest Series The NatWest Series is the name used for One Day International cricket tournaments held in England since 2000. The tournaments are sponsored by the National Westminster Bank. 2000 to 2005: triangular series The original format of the NatWest Seri ...

, the issue caused him to miss the whole ODI tournament as well as the first Test of the

. He returned to the team for the second Test but suffered another injury setback after being struck by a bouncer from

Brett Lee Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is an Australian former international cricketer, who played all three formats of the game. During his international career, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the world. With his time representin ...

which broke a bone in his right hand. He failed to play in the remainder of the series which Australia won 4–1. Thorpe was selected for England's tour of India in 2001–02 and played in the first Test at

Mohali Mohali, officially Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar or Ajitgarh, is a planned city in the Mohali district in Punjab, India, Punjab, India, which is an administrative and a commercial hub lying south-west of Chandigarh. It is the headquarters of the M ...

, scoring 23 and 62. He flew home before the second Test for 'personal reasons', but did return to India for the ODI leg of the tour in January 2002.

2002

Following the India series England's moved on to New Zealand, beginning their

with a five-match ODI series. Thorpe scored half-centuries in the third and fourth ODIs with England winning both matches. The first Test match was played at

Lancaster Park Lancaster Park, also known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium for sponsorship reasons, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium closed permanently due to damage sustained in the February 2011 earthqu ...

on a drop-in pitch which got better for batting as the match went on. In England's second innings they were 106/5 when Thorpe, having already been dropped by

Nathan Astle Nathan John Astle (born 15 September 1971) is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played all formats of the game. A right-handed batsman who played as an opener in One Day Internationals (ODI), while batting in the middle order in Test matches. ...

off his second ball, was joined by Andrew Flintoff. The pair put on a partnership of 281 in 312 balls, surpassing the English record for the sixth-wicket in the process. Thorpe reached his maiden Test double century from 231 balls, at the time the third fastest in Tests, his innings contained 28 fours and four sixes. Set an implausible target of 550, Astle scored the fastest double-century in Test history which briefly threatened a New Zealand win. Thorpe made 57 runs in the next two Tests which were overshadowed by news of

Ben Hollioake Benjamin Caine Hollioake (11 November 1977 – 23 March 2002) was an English cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club and the England cricket team The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket ...

's death, a Surrey and England team-mate of Thorpe. Sri Lanka toured England in the first part of the 2002 English season to play a three-Test series. In the second Test at Edgbaston, Thorpe reached his 11th Test century thanks to support from number 11

Matthew Hoggard Matthew James Hoggard, (born 31 December 1976) is a former English cricketer, who played international cricket for England cricket team from 2000 to 2008, playing both Test cricket and One Day Internationals. The 6' 2" Hoggard was a right arm f ...

. Thorpe was on 61 when the ninth wicket fell but was able to more than double his score with the stand of 91 being a tenth wicket record for England-Sri Lanka matches. He also passed 5,000 Test runs during the innings, the 14th Englishman to reach the landmark. Thorpe played in England's first three ODIs of the

NatWest Series The NatWest Series is the name used for One Day International cricket tournaments held in England since 2000. The tournaments are sponsored by the National Westminster Bank. 2000 to 2005: triangular series The original format of the NatWest Seri ...

before being omitted from the rest of their matches. At the end of the tournament he announced his retirement from ODI cricket to focus on Test cricket citing the fitness demands of playing in both formats as well as wanting to spend more time with his children. In the first Test against India, Thorpe struggled scoring five runs in two innings with ''Wisden'' describing him as 'visibly distressed'. At the conclusion of the match he announced that he was taking a break from cricket stating: "I am feeling very worn down and burnt out by events off the field which have become a major distraction for me and prevented me from focusing fully on my cricket." Thorpe returned to cricket seven weeks later for Surrey in a County Championship fixture with Hampshire, scoring a second innings century. He was originally named in England's squad for the 2002–03 Ashes after making himself available for selection but reversed his decision two weeks later and withdrew from the tour.

2003

During the 2003 English season, Thorpe played for Surrey for most of the campaign and helped them to win the double of

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

and

Twenty20 Cup The T20 Blast, officially known as the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. T20 Blast is ...

. He made 13 appearances in the National League and averaged 47.25, and featured in five matches during the inaugural season of the Twenty20 Cup including the opening night win over

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

as well as the victory over

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

in the final. Thorpe was recalled by England for the final Test of the summer with England trailing South Africa 2–1 in the

, he replaced an injured Nasser Hussain. In response to South Africa's 484, Thorpe joined

Marcus Trescothick Marcus Edward Trescothick (born 25 December 1975) is an English former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England cricket team, England in 76 Test cricket, Test matches and 123 One Day In ...

at the wicket with England 78/2 and the pair batted together for five hours in adding 268. This was the fourth occasion of Thorpe being involved in a Test partnership of more than 250 and his innings of 126 was his first century for England at The Oval. England would go on to win the match and draw the series. The Oval century ensured Thorpe's place in the squad for the tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

he scored two half-centuries as England won both Tests. However on the Sri Lankan leg of the tour he struggled against

Muttiah Muralitharan Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan (born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, businessman and former professional cricketer. Averaging over six wickets per Test match, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the ...

doosra A doosra is a particular type of delivery (cricket), delivery by an off spin, off-spin bowler (cricket), bowler in cricket. The doosra spins in the opposite direction to an off break (the off-spinner's default delivery), and aims to confuse the ...

and was dismissed by him five times, across the three Tests he scored 183 runs at 30.50.

2004

Thorpe was selected for his third tour of the West Indies in 2004 for a four-Test series. In the second Test, he top-scored with an innings of 90 with ''Wisden'' commenting that "he pulled and hooked majestically". He followed that by scoring his 13th Test century in the next Test at the Kensington Oval under tough circumstances. England lost wickets regularly in their first innings but Thorpe remained, and with support from the tail was able to reach three figures and put his side into a narrow lead. His unbeaten score of 119 was more than half the team total of 226 with the next highest contribution being 17. He was named man of the match as England won the Test to secure a first series victory in the Caribbean since 1968. In the final Test,

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely renowned as one of the greatest Batting (cricket), batsmen of all time. He holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest in ...

scored 400 not out to break the record for highest score in Test cricket for a second time in his career, Thorpe witnessed both innings having also been in the opposition during his score of 375 in 1994. Thorpe ended the series with 274 runs at an average of 91.33. In the home series with New Zealand, Thorpe twice helped England to successful fourth innings run chases of more than 280. At Lord's he made a half-century in an unbroken stand of 139 alongside Nasser Hussain who scored a century in his final Test innings. In the third Test at Trent Bridge, Thorpe arrived at the wicket with England 46/3 in pursuit of 284 before making his 14th Test century which with support down the order lead his team to a four wicket victory. The innings, which won him the man of the match award, was noted for its cover drives with ''Wisden'' stating that he "scored heavily between point and extra cover". The 3–0 series score made it England's first

whitewash Whitewash, calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, asbestis or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk (calcium carbonate, CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes ...

of a three-match series since 1978. England continued their success during the second half of the English season as they beat the touring West Indies 4–0. Thorpe contributed a pair of half-centuries in the second Test at Edgbaston. In the following match at Old Trafford, he began his innings in partnership with

Andrew Strauss Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club, Middl ...

for the first time and the two left-handers added 177 for the third wicket recovering the score from 40/3. Thorpe broke his little finger when struck by a

Fidel Edwards Fidel Henderson Edwards (born 6 February 1982) is a Barbadian cricketer, who played all formats of the game. A pace bowler, his round-arm action is "not unlike" that of former fast bowler Jeff Thomson but similar to the bowling action of Lasith ...

bouncer on 91 but batted on to reach his 15th Test century with a score of 114. Due to the injury Thorpe was unable to field and not called upon to bat in the second innings as England won the match by seven wickets. He also missed the final Test with

Ian Bell Ian Ronald Bell (born 11 April 1982) is an English former cricketer who played international cricket in all formats for the England cricket team and county cricket for Warwickshire County Cricket Club. A right-handed higher/middle order batsm ...

taking his place. Across the series Thorpe made 286 runs at 57.20 however he did drop several catches with ''Wisden'' picking out "his increasingly unreliable and slow performances in the field". England began a

tour of South Africa The Tour of South Africa was a stage cycling race in South Africa that was only held once, in 2011. It was part of UCI Africa Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by ...

in December playing five Tests. In winning the opening match England achieved their eighth consecutive Test victory, a national record. In the second Test at

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, Thorpe scored his 16th Test century helping England to recover a first innings deficit of 193. Despite centuries from Strauss and Marcus Trescothick, the match was in the balance when Thorpe began his innings but century stands with Andrew Flintoff and

Geraint Jones Geraint Owen Jones (born 14 July 1976) is a former cricketer who played for both England and Papua New Guinea. Born to Welsh parents in Papua New Guinea, Jones was the first-choice wicketkeeper for the England cricket team between 2004 and 20 ...

helped secure a position from which they were able to declare, Thorpe remaining unbeaten on 118. In South Africa's second innings he became the fifth Englishman to register 100 Test catches as a fielder. Thorpe's other significant contribution of the series came in the final Test at

Centurion Park Centurion Park is a cricket ground in Centurion in South Africa. It is also known as SuperSport Park since television company SuperSport bought shares in the stadium. The capacity of the ground is 22,000. The Titans cricket team have played mo ...

where he batted over five and a half hours for a patient 86, taking time from a match South Africa needed to win to level the series. Overall he had an indifferent series, averaging 35.87, with ''Wisden'' assessing that he was "generally less convincing than in the past".

2005

At the start of the English season, Thorpe was in poor form making 78 runs in five County Championship innings while also missing a match due to a back injury. However he was included in England's squad for the two Tests against Bangladesh. He made 42 not out in the first Test and an unbeaten 66 in the second, during the latter innings he combined with

to add 187 runs from 193 balls. Against weak opposition, England won both matches comfortably by an innings. The second Test brought Thorpe his 100th Test appearance, becoming the eighth English player to reach the landmark. The form shown by

Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a former England international cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest England batsmen to have played the game, and renowned for his competitive, and often controversial nature. He was a ri ...

in the ODIs against Australia led to media speculation over which of Thorpe or Pietersen would be selected for the

. They opted for Pietersen with chairman of selectors

David Graveney David Anthony Graveney (born 2 January 1953) is a leading figure in English cricket and the Graveney dynasty, former chairman of the England Test selectors, a post he held from 1997 until 2008. Graveney attended Millfield School in Somerset. ...

describing it as "the most difficult decision that I have been party to in my time as a selector". On 22 July, Thorpe announced his retirement from international cricket citing the arrival of his third child as the main reason behind the decision. A month later he retired from all first-class cricket stating: "In purely physical terms, I don't want to go through another season of taking painkillers and having injections in my back." He had intended to finish at the end of the season but suffered a back spasm ahead of the match with Hampshire and was not included in Surrey's squad for final game of the season, so his final first-class appearance came against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

prior to the announcement.

Style and personality

Thorpe was a batsman capable of adapting to attack or defence depending on the match situation. He was considered a counter-attacking batsman in the early stages of his international career before evolving into a more 'pragmatic player of percentages'. After being recalled in 1994, Thorpe returned with more intent to play his shots. His innings in that South Africa series were noted for their attacking nature and his strike rate of 65.30 was one of the highest of his career. Thorpe was not considered a powerful batsman but instead relied on crisp stroke-play and skillful placement of shots. Thorpe was adept against fast or spin bowling but after the successful tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 2000–01 he earned a reputation as the team's best player of spin. According to Alec Stewart, Thorpe adapted his batting method during the Pakistan tour from being stroke-maker to being a 'nudger and nurdler'. Mike Atherton rated Thorpe's Colombo century in testing conditions as "one of the finest I ever saw from an England player" despite a lack of fluent strokeplay. He described his technique as akin to French cricket where he played the ball late, with a low backlift and was able to use his wrists to place his shots past the fielders. Writing in 2011, David Gower ranked Thorpe as the second best English batsman from those he had either played with or commentated on. He picked out his versality and ability to play Muralitharan.

Angus Fraser Angus Robert Charles Fraser (born 8 August 1965) is an English cricket administrator. He served as the managing director of Middlesex Cricket between 2009 and 2021, before assuming a new role heading the club's academy. He is currently se ...

assessed that Thorpe would be remembered as a good rather than great batsman because of his 16 Test centuries he only went on to pass 130 three times. Thorpe was viewed as a quiet man, but on occasion had difficulties with authority figures. He clashed with his first county captain Ian Greig and was opposed to Surrey having separate dressing rooms for players depending on if they were

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

or not. For England, he often failed to stick to the dress code but his most severe indiscretion came days ahead of the 1999 World Cup when he failed to attend an official function and was fined £1,000 by the ECB. In 2004, he outspokenly criticised the ECB for allowing England to tour Zimbabwe for an ODI series when they had pulled out of playing a World Cup match in the country the previous year. David Lloyd, England coach from 1996 to 1999, was critical of Thorpe's attitude, accusing him of being surly and divisive. Ahead of Thorpe's recall in 2003, Fraser and

Mike Selvey Michael Walter William Selvey (born 25 April 1948) is an English former Test and county cricketer, and now a cricket writer and commentator. A fast-medium bowler, Selvey played in three Tests for England in 1976 and 1977. He played county cri ...

questioned the decision as potentially disrupting the team spirit. Fraser stated Thorpe was "his own man" who did not conform to the "little things that make a team a team".

Records and statistics

At the time of his retirement Thorpe's 6,744 Test runs placed him tenth on the list of leading run-scorers for England, with his 16 hundreds placing him joint ninth on the list of century makers. Thorpe spent the majority of his career batting at either number 4 or 5. He averaged 56.21 when batting at number 5 and his 3,373 runs in that position is an England record. He was noted for his record in a winning cause and successful fourth innings run chases. He averaged 62.62 in the 38 Test victories he experienced and averaged 108.25 in successful fourth innings run chases. Thorpe was involved in four Test partnerships worth 250 or more, the only England player to have done so. The largest of these was a stand of 288 with Nasser Hussain which was the England fourth wicket record against Australia until surpassed by

and

Paul Collingwood Paul David Collingwood (born 26 May 1976) is an English cricket coach and former player, who played in all three formats of the game internationally for England cricket team, England. He played for Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood was a ...

in 2006. His sixth wicket partnership of 281 with Andrew Flintoff was an England Test record for that wicket until bettered by

Ben Stokes Benjamin Andrew Stokes (born 4 June 1991) is an English international cricketer who is List of England cricket captains, the captain of the England cricket team, England Test cricket, Test team. Stokes has played for England in all three forma ...

and

Jonny Bairstow Jonathan Marc Bairstow (born 26 September 1989) is an English cricketer who played internationally for England cricket team, England in all formats as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batter. In domestic cricket, he has played for Yorkshire County C ...

in 2016. At the time of his ODI retirement in 2002, Thorpe's 2,380 runs placed him eighth on the list of leading run-scorers for England in the format. That run tally is the highest of any England player who never managed to score an ODI century. In the ICC batting rankings Thorpe peaked at number 3 for Test cricket ahead of the West Indies tour in 1998. His peak in the ODI rankings was number 10.

Test centuries

During his career Thorpe made 16 centuries in international cricket, all of which were scored in Test matches. He scored multiple centuries against the six teams he played most often in Tests, but did not reach three figures against India (five Tests), Bangladesh (four Tests) or Zimbabwe (two Tests). The Kensington Oval was the only overseas ground at which he made two Test centuries, and despite playing more Tests at Lord's than any other ground he never got on their honours board, with a best score of 89.

Post-playing career

Coaching

Ahead of playing in the 2005 Bangladesh series Thorpe announced he would coach for New South Wales the following winter as well as playing

Sydney Grade Cricket NSW Premier Cricket, formerly and still commonly known as Sydney Grade Cricket is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia, and is highest level club cricket competition in the state of New South Wales The competition began in 1893 when ...

. He played for UTS Balmain and was available to play for New South Wales, if required, but made only one second XI appearance for the state side. After two seasons as batting consultant for New South Wales, he was named assistant coach ahead of the 2007–08 campaign, replacing

Matthew Mott Matthew Peter Mott (born 3 October 1973) is an Australian cricket coach and a former first-class cricketer. He is the former coach of the Australian Women's Cricket Team. Mott also previously coached the England men's white-ball cricket team, a ...

who was promoted to the position of head coach. In January 2008, he resigned from the position for business and family reasons. Later that year he returned to Surrey as batting coach, holding the position for two years before joining the ECB in a national lead batting coach role working with the England Lions and younger development squads. At the start of 2013, the ECB split the coaching of the Test and white ball sides, as part of this reshuffle Thorpe became batting coach for the senior England white ball teams. Following the appointment of

Chris Silverwood Christopher Eric Wilfred Silverwood (born 5 March 1975) is an English former international cricketer and coach. He is a former head coach of the Sri Lanka Cricket Team and previously the England Cricket Team. Early life and domestic playing c ...

as England head coach in 2019, Thorpe was named as one of his three assistants. During the COVID-19 affected summer of 2020, Thorpe was interim head coach for England's Twenty20 series with Pakistan. He also stood in during the fourth Test of the

2021–22 Ashes series The 2021–22 Ashes series, named the Vodafone Men's Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons, was a series of five Test cricket matches that were contested between England cricket team, England and Australia national cricket team, Australia for The ...

with Silverwood self-isolating. Following the end of the series, Thorpe was involved in an drinking session with England and Australia players which continued until 6a.m. and resulted in the police being called. He was among those to be dismissed by the ECB after the 4–0 Ashes defeat. In March 2022, Thorpe was announced as the new head coach of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, but fell seriously ill before beginning the role.

Media

Thorpe worked with

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

's commentary team for the final Test of the 2005 Ashes. He made his debut as a summariser for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Radio's

Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. The programme is available on BB ...

programme during India's 2007 tour of England. He also appeared as a match summariser on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

' highlights coverage for the same series. In September 2005 Thorpe released an autobiography entitled ''Rising from the Ashes''. He wrote a monthly column for the UK-based cricket magazine, '' SPIN World Cricket Monthly''. Thorpe appeared on an Ashes special edition of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'' in 2005. He also competed on the 2008 remake of ''

Superstars A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity. Superstar or superstars may also refer to: People * "Superstar" Krishna (1943–2022), Indian film actor, director and producer in Telugu cinema * "Superstar" Mahesh Babu (born 1975), Indian actor * ...

''.

Honours

Thorpe was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2006 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2006 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 17 June 2006, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2006.Saint Lucia list: Antigua & Barbuda list: The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before t ...

. As part of the extension of the Oval members' pavilion in 2021, a room was named after Thorpe. There is a street in Maggona, Sri Lanka named 'Graham Thorpe Road'. Following the

2004 tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the scient ...

, Surrey organised a charity match which raised funds of £1.5 million to help re-build the village and create the

Surrey Village Cricket Ground Surrey Village Cricket Ground in Maggona, Kalutara District, Sri Lanka, has staged first-class, List A and other cricket matches since it was opened in 2011. Location The ground is in Surrey Village, Maggona, off St Vincent Road, about one kilom ...

. In November 2024, a new trophy was launched named the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy in tribute to Thorpe and New Zealand batsman

Martin Crowe Martin David Crowe (22 September 1962 – 3 March 2016) was a New Zealand cricketer, Test and ODI captain as well as a commentator. He played for the New Zealand national cricket team between 1982 and 1995, and is regarded as one of the count ...

. The trophy will be played for in Test series between England and New Zealand.

Personal life and death

Thorpe married his first wife Nicola in September 1995 having first met her on a Surrey pre-season tour to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. The couple had two children, a boy born in November 1996 and a girl born in April 1999. The couple separated in late 2001, with Graham leaving India for England in a failed attempt to save the relationship. The resulting divorce proceedings and custody battle led to him taking a break from cricket in the summer of 2002. Thorpe met his second wife Amanda at a benefit function for his Surrey team-mate

. The couple had a child together in August 2005 before getting married in 2007; his wife also had a daughter from her first marriage. Thorpe suffered from severe depression and

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

in the final years of his life, and was admitted to intensive care following a

suicide attempt A suicide attempt is an act in which an individual tries to kill themselves but survives. Mental health professionals discourage describing suicide attempts as "failed" or "unsuccessful", as doing so may imply that a suicide resulting in death is ...

in May 2022. On 10 May 2022, the

Professional Cricketers' Association The Professional Cricketers' Association is the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey (when it was known as the Cricketers' Association). In ...

released a statement on behalf of Thorpe's family stating that he was seriously ill, though the nature of his condition was not disclosed. On 4 August 2024 Thorpe took his own life by stepping in front of a train at

Esher railway station Esher railway station is a station on the South West Main Line operated by South Western Railway (train operating company), South Western Railway in Surrey, England. The station adjoins the north of Esher with two footpaths skirting Sandown Par ...

; he was 55 years old. His family publicly revealed his cause of death and mental health struggles a week after his death, with the intention of raising awareness.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorpe, Graham 1969 births 2024 deaths 2024 suicides England One Day International cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 20th-century English sportsmen Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers who made a century on Test debut English cricketers Surrey cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Farnham English cricket coaches Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Test and County Cricket Board Under-25s XI cricketers Cricketers from Surrey England cricket captains Suicides by train Suicides in England