England to wear black armbands to pay tribute to Graham Thorpe
England Cricket Team will be wearing black armbands to pay tribute to the passing of Graham Thorpe. The first Test of the three-match series between England and Sri Lanka will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester from August 21st.
Graham Thorpe passed away after taking his own life on August 4th at the age of 55. The former England batter was said to be suffering from major depression and anxiety. He had a great career for England, scoring over 9000 international runs across 182 international matches.
Thorpe was one of England's longest-serving coaches. He worked closely with the likes of Joe Root and Ollie Pope, who will be taking the field against Sri Lanka in the first Test to be played at Manchester.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo ahead of the first Test, England stand-in skipper Ollie Pope had the following to say:
"We'll have our black armbands on throughout the course of the game and there'll be a tribute to him before. It's hurt a lot of people in that changing room. He was a great man. I probably had two or three years playing with him as a batting coach. I really admired him."
Continuing from there, the 26-year-old said:
"I remember him saying one thing to me, which was: 'Never let the runs you're scoring define you as a person'. In a bit of a rut when you're young, that was exactly what I needed to hear. It shows, for me, what a people's person he was."
"He was loved in the changing-room. He's such a sad loss to everyone: to the country, his family and the boys as well. He's missed, and we'll honour him this week," Pope added.
Graham Thorpe was one of England's finest middle-order batters
Graham Thorpe was a batter par excellence for England in the early 2000s. With a career spanning 100 Tests, the batter scored 6744 runs at an average of 44.66. He also played 82 ODIs and scored 2380 runs with 21 half-centuries to his name.
Post his playing days, Thorpe joined England's coaching fold and was appointed as the batting coach back in 2013. He was a part of the coaching staff of the English team that won the ICC Men's ODI World Cup back in 2019. He was also appointed as the Head Coach of Afghanistan in 2022 but declined the offer owing to illness.