Graham Thorpe

Graham Paul Thorpe MBE (born 1 August 1969) is a former English cricketer who played for England internationally and Surrey domestically. A left-handed middle-order batsman and slip fielder, he appeared in 100 Test matches.

Graham Thorpe

MBE

Personal information
Full name	Graham Paul Thorpe
Born	(1969-08-01) 1 August 1969 (age 54) Farnham, Surrey, England
Nickname	Thorpey
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right arm medium
Role	Middle-order batsman
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 564)	1 July 1993 v Australia
Last Test	5 June 2005 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 122)	19 May 1993 v Australia
Last ODI	2 July 2002 v Sri Lanka
ODI shirt no.	9
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1988–2005	Surrey
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 100 82 341 354 Runs scored 6,744 2,380 21,937 10,871 Batting average 44.66 37.18 45.04 39.67 100s/50s 16/39 0/21 49/122 9/80 Top score 200* 89 223* 145* Balls bowled 138 120 2,387 721 Wickets 0 2 26 16 Bowling average – 48.50 53.00 40.56 5 wickets in innings – 0 0 0 10 wickets in match – 0 0 0 Best bowling – 2/15 4/40 3/21 Catches/stumpings 105/– 42/– 290/– 168/–
Source: CricInfo, 29 November 2007

Early life

Thorpe was born the third and final son out of three boys in Farnham, Surrey, in August 1969. Naturally right-handed, when he was six years old Thorpe changed his stance to make it harder for his two elder brothers to get him out and because the boundary in his garden was shorter on the leg-side for a left-hander.^{[citation needed]}

International career

Thorpe made his debut for Surrey in 1988, and his international debut in 1993. He scored a century (114 not out) in the second innings of his debut Test match, against Australia at Trent Bridge. Developing into a very highly regarded player, he was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1998. Thorpe hit only one four in his hundred against Pakistan at Lahore in November 2000. It also contained seven threes, 12 twos and 51 singles. He hit another boundary before being dismissed for 118 from 301 balls. This is among the fewest ever boundaries in a Test century.^[1] However, Thorpe was also a highly capable stroke-maker: during his highest Test score, 200 not out off 231 balls against New Zealand at Christchurch in 2002, he and Andrew Flintoff compiled a partnership of 281 in 51 overs.^[2]

During the 2002 season, Thorpe had marital difficulties which were well publicised in several tabloid newspapers, and this seriously affected his play and his focus on the game. Seemingly disillusioned with constant touring away from his family, he announced his retirement from the one-day game and changed his mind several times on whether to tour Australia, eventually pulling out of the tour entirely. However, in 2003 Thorpe, with family problems put to one side, returned to the England team in the fifth Test against South Africa at his home ground of The Oval, where he was warmly welcomed as a local hero with a standing ovation. Thorpe scored 124 as England won the match to force an unlikely series draw, and remained in the side for series victories against Bangladesh away and at home, against the West Indies away and at home, against New Zealand at home, and in South Africa. He played his hundredth and final Test against Bangladesh in June 2005; in the two years between his comeback and his retirement he scored 1635 Test runs at an average of 56.37. He witnessed both of Brian Lara's marathon innings of 375 in 1994 and 400* in 2004.

Thorpe announced his retirement from Test cricket after the England selectors chose Kevin Pietersen instead of him for the first Test of The Ashes in July 2005. Thorpe averaged over 49 against Australia, but given the impending back complaint and 2005/2006 winter tour unavailability the selectors felt the decision to replace Thorpe with Pietersen the correct one. After announcing the squad England chairman of selectors David Graveney described it as "the most difficult decision that I have been party to in my time as a selector".^[3]

International centuries

During his career Thorpe made 16 centuries in international cricket, all 16 of which were scored in Tests, sits hundred and two in the list of century-makers in international cricket.^[4]

Key

• * – Remained not out
• † – Man of the match
• ‡ – Captain of England in that match

Test cricket centuries

Test centuries scored by Graham Thorpe^[5]

No.	Score	Against	Pos.	Inn.	Test	Venue	H/A/N	Date	Result	Ref
1	114* †	Australia	7	3	3/6	Trent Bridge, Nottingham	Home	1 July 1993	Drawn	^[6]
2	123	Australia	4	2	5/5	WACA Ground, Perth	Away	3 February 1995	Lost	^[7]
3	119	New Zealand	5	2	1/3	Eden Park, Auckland	Away	4 January 1997	Drawn	^[8]
4	108 †	New Zealand	5	2	2/3	Basin Reserve, Wellington	Away	6 February 1997	Won	^[9]
5	138	Australia	5	2	1/6	Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham	Home	6 June 1997	Won	^[10]
6	103	West Indies	5	1	5/6	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown	Away	12 March 1998	Drawn	^[11]
7	118	Pakistan	3	1	1/3	Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore	Away	15 November 2000	Drawn	^[12]
8	113* †	Sri Lanka	4	2	3/3	Singhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground, Colombo	Away	15 March 2001	Won	^[13]
9	138	Pakistan	4	2	2/2	Old Trafford, Manchester	Home	31 May 2001	Drawn	^[14]
10	200* †	New Zealand	5	3	1/3	Jade Stadium, Christchurch	Away	13 March 2002	Won	^[15]
11	123	Sri Lanka	5	2	2/3	Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham	Home	20 May 2002	Won	^[16]
12	124	South Africa	4	2	5/5	The Oval, London	Home	4 September 2003	Won	^[17]
13	119* †	West Indies	5	2	3/4	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown	Away	1 April 2004	Won	^[18]
14	104* †	New Zealand	5	4	3/3	Old Trafford, Manchester	Home	4 June 2004	Won	^[19]
15	114 †	West Indies	5	2	3/4	The Oval, London	Home	12 August 2004	Won	^[20]
16	118*	South Africa	5	3	2/5	Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban	Away	26 December 2004	Drawn	^[21]

Domestic career

Thorpe played another two months with Surrey before following up his test retirement with his retirement from domestic cricket in August 2005. He served New South Wales as a batting coach in two seasons starting in 2005/6 and played for UTS-Balmain in the Sydney First Grade competition. Thorpe was named as assistant coach of New South Wales in 2007 replacing Matthew Mott who was promoted to the position of coach.^[22]

Post–playing career

 

Graham Thorpe's career performance graph.

Thorpe was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2006 Birthday Honours.^[23][24] He made his debut as a summariser for BBC Radio's Test Match Special programme during the first Test of India's 2007 tour of England. He also appeared as a match summariser on Sky Sports' highlights coverage for the same series. He wrote a monthly column for the UK-based cricket magazine, SPIN World Cricket Monthly.^[25][26]

Thorpe was involved as batting coach for the England team between 2010 and 2022. Thorpe stepped down as England batting coach in February 2022 following their 4-0 Ashes defeat by Australia. In March 2022, Thorpe was made head coach of Afghanistan.^[27]

Personal life

Thorpe is married to Amanda.^[28]

In May 2022, it was revealed that Thorpe had been hospitalised for a "serious illness" with an "unclear prognosis".^[29]

References

1. "BBC Sport – Cricket – Ask Malcolm Ashton". BBC Sport. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
2. "Full Scorecard of New Zealand vs England 1st Test 2002 – Score Report". ESPNcricinfo.com. ESPNcricinfo. March 2002.
3. Cricinfo staff (14 July 2005). "The Ashes: 2005 Pietersen edges out Thorpe in Ashes squad". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
4. "Records / Combined Test, ODI and T20I records / Batting records / Most hundreds in a career". ESPNcricinfo. from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
5. "Statistics / StatsGuru / GP Thorpe / Test Matches". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
6. "Australia tour of England and Ireland, 1993: The Ashes – 3rd Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 October 2013. ||
7. "5th Test, Perth, February 03 – 07, 1995, England tour of Australia". ESPNcricinfo.
8. "3rd Test, England tour of Australia at Sydney, Jan 4-8 1991". ESPNcricinfo.
9. "2nd Test, Wellington, February 06 – 10, 1997, England tour of New Zealand". ESPNcricinfo.
10. "1st Test, Birmingham, June 05 – 08, 1997, Australia tour of England and Scotland". ESPNcricinfo.
11. "5th Test, Bridgetown, March 12 – 16, 1998, England tour of West Indies". ESPNcricinfo.
12. "1st Test, Lahore, November 15 – 19, 2000, England tour of Pakistan". ESPNcricinfo.
13. "3rd Test, Colombo (SSC), March 15 – 17, 2001, England tour of Sri Lanka". ESPNcricinfo.
14. "2nd Test, Manchester, May 31 – June 04, 2001, Pakistan tour of England". ESPNcricinfo.
15. "1st Test: New Zealand v England at Christchurch, Mar 13–16, 2002 | Cricket Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
16. "2nd Test, Birmingham, May 30 – June 02, 2002, Sri Lanka tour of England". ESPNcricinfo.
17. "5th Test, The Oval, September 04 – 08, 2003, South Africa tour of England and Ireland". ESPNcricinfo.
18. "3rd Test, Bridgetown, April 01 – 03, 2004, England tour of West Indies". ESPNcricinfo.
19. "3rd Test, Nottingham, June 10 – 13, 2004, New Zealand tour of England". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
20. "3rd Test, Manchester, August 12 – 16, 2004, West Indies tour of England". ESPNcricinfo.
21. "2nd Test: South Africa v England at Durban, Dec 26–30, 2004". ESPNcricinfo. from the original on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
22. "Blues wait on news from McGrath". The Age. 6 July 2007.
23. UK list: "No. 58014". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 17 June 2006. p. 23.
24. "Thorpe/Ferguson head honours list". BBC Sport. 16 June 2006.
25. Nicholas, Mark (13 August 2007). "Graham Thorpe playing innings of his life". The Daily Telegraph. London.
26. Dawkins, David (18 March 2015). "Left? Right? Both". ESPNcricinfo.com. ESPNcricinfo.
27. "Graham Thorpe: Former England batter 'seriously ill' in hospital". BBC Sport. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
28. "Former England batter Graham Thorpe 'seriously ill' in hospital". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
29. "Graham Thorpe 'seriously ill' and receiving treatment in hospital". The Guardian. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.

External links

• Graham Thorpe at ESPNcricinfo