“Always stood out”: Sachin Tendulkar condoles death of former England cricketer Graham Thorpe

New Delhi [India], August 6 (ANI): India’s batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar extended heartfelt condolences over the demise of former England cricketer Graham Thorpe.

Thorpe’s passing, at the age of 55, shocked the cricketing world. He passed away at the age of 55 after suffering from an illness for a long time.

Sachin took to X and wrote, “It’s extremely sad to learn that Graham Thorpe is no longer with us. His reputation as a naturally gifted, free-flowing batter who played fearlessly and with flair, always stood out. Sending my heartfelt condolences to his family and close ones. Rest in peace, Graham.”

It's extremely sad to learn that Graham Thorpe is no longer with us. His reputation as a naturally gifted, free-flowing batter who played fearlessly and with flair, always stood out. Sending my heartfelt condolences to his family and close ones. Rest in peace, Graham.

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 5, 2024

Thorpe made his international debut in 1993 and was the mainstay of the English batting throughout the late 90s and early 2000s. The southpaw played 100 Tests and scored 6744 runs at an average of 44.66, with 16 hundreds and 39 fifties to his name. His highest score was 200*.

In ODIs, the gritty batter scored 2380 runs at an average of 37.18 with 21 fifties. He appeared at two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups, scoring 254 runs at the 1996 edition in Sri Lanka and then contributing 125 runs three years later at the event in England, Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

In the ICC batting rankings, Thorpe peaked at No.3 in Tests ahead of England’s tour of the West Indies in 1998. His peak in the ODI rankings was No.10, the release added.

After retiring from cricket in 2005, Thorpe held coaching positions with New South Wales, Surrey and England Men’s side.

He was involved with the England setup as a coach for the majority of the 2010s and was part of the coaching hierarchy in the role of batting coach that netted the European side of the 2019 World Cup on home soil in thrilling fashion.

Thorpe served as England’s assistant coach up until the 2021/22 Ashes tour of Australia. He was subsequently appointed as Afghanistan’s head coach in March 2022, but couldn’t take up the position due to his illness.