Former England cricketer Graham Thorpe dies at the age of 55

London [UK], August 5 (ANI): Former England cricketer Graham Thorpe passed away at the age of 55 on Monday after suffering from an illness for a long time.

Thorpe’s passing, at the age of 55, has shocked the cricketing world. In a statement, the England Cricket Board (ECB) shared deep sorrow over his death.

“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,” the ECB statement read as quoted by ICC.

It then mentioned Thorpe’s contribution to England cricket over the years.

“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 ECB statement added.

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.

The legendary player 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 was recently 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.