"Without his backing and pushing my case, I may not have had the career I've had" - Joe Root pays tribute to Graham Thorpe
Ace England batter Joe Root thanked former cricketer Graham Thorpe for his massive influence and consistent backing of him after the latter's death earlier this month. Thorpe tragically died at 55, while dealing with serious illness and other mental issues on August 4.
Following his illustrious playing career, Thorpe served as England's long-time batting and assistant coach at different stages from 2013 until the 2021-22 Ashes tour Down Under.
Root spoke to Sky Sports about Thorpe's tireless efforts to help him improve as a cricketer.
"A lot of my interactions with Graham and where his biggest influences came were as a coach when he started the second phase of his career. It was quite surreal first getting to meet someone of his stature and talking about the game. I worked very closely with him for the next 12 years or so. He had a huge influence on my career and arguably without his backing and pushing my case, I may not have had the career I've had," said Root.
"Clearly the work he put in during that 10-12 year period… he worked tirelessly. We had good, honest conversations about areas I needed to improve. Not just me but you look at guys that came through in that time: Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, James Vince, Sam Billings. He played a big role in Ben Stokes' development. A lot of the scores I have got over the years in the subcontinent have been down to the basics I learnt from my very first tour with him," he added.
Thorpe was part of the England coaching setup when they won their maiden ODI World Cup title at home in 2019.
He also served as interim head coach for England's T20I series against Pakistan in 2020 and the penultimate Test of the 2021-22 Ashes.
"He was one of the players that stood out in that time" - Joe Root
Joe Root felt Graham Thorpe was among the standout batters of the 1990s for his ability to be equally adept against pace and spin.
The Surrey-born cricketer played 100 Tests and 82 ODIs for England, finishing with over 9,000 runs and 16 centuries across formats.
"He was one of the players that stood out in that time. He was one of the guys that consistently performed when things were tough and when results weren't always going in our favour, which I think is a great quality to have. Even when I was young and learning about the sport, you could tell he had a good game against both spin and high pace. He could play the short ball well but also had success in Sri Lanka," said Root in the same interaction.
Thorpe is England's 15th all-time leading run-scorer in Tests with an excellent average of 44.66. The southpaw boasted equally impressive home and away averages at 45.17 and 44.16, respectively.
The England players will pay tribute to the late Thorpe before Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Manchester on Wednesday, August 21.