Graham Paul Thorpe, a former England cricketer, known for his exceptional counter-attacking and fielding prowess, was born on August 1, 1969. A stalwart in the middle order for Surrey and England for almost a decade, he also contributed to the bowling department with his medium-pace deliveries.
Born in Farnham, Thorpe started playing cricket at the age of 13 for his village team, Wrecclesham. He made his first-class debut for Surrey at the age of 18 in 1988 against Leicestershire; The 55-year-old slammed his maiden century in the same season. By the following year, Thorpe had established a name for himself in the Surrey team.
His impressive performances on the domestic circuit, which included the feat of 1000+ runs in a single season at an average of 45, earned him a place in the England A team for the 1989–90 tour of Zimbabwe. In May 1993, Thorpe received his maiden international call-up for the three-match ODI series against Australia at home.
A month later, he was picked for the Test team against Australia at Trent Bridge and impressed everyone by scoring a century on debut. He could score only six runs in the first innings but piled up 114 runs in the second while stitching a 150-run stand with captain Graham Gooch. Even though the match ended in a draw, Thorpe was selected as the Player of the Match.
He was a regular feature of England’s senior and A teams for nearly 10 years. One of Thorpe’s notable qualities is his ability to adapt to situations. At the time of his international retirement, Thorpe had completed 100 Test matches and had scored 6744 runs at an average of 44.66, including one double century, 16 centuries and 39 fifties.
In his 82 ODI matches, Thorpe amassed 2380 runs at an average of 37.19, including 21 half-centuries. Notably, he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1998. He has also done a few commentaries since his retirement.
Also read: Australian opening batter Bill Brown was born in 1912