Former England and Surrey cricketer Graham Thorpe celebrates his 55th birthday today (August 1). He was a prolific middle-order batter for England for nearly a decade. Thorpe made his international debut in the ODI format in May 1993 and was invited to the Test team a month later.
The left-handed batter announced his arrival in the longer format of the game by scoring a century on his debut. Known for his ability to play according to the situation, Thorpe has represented England in over 100 Test matches. By the time of his retirement, the Farnham-born cricketer had scored 6744 runs at an average of 44.66, including one double century, 16 centuries and 39 fifties.
Here are Graham Thorpe’s top 3 batting performances in Tests:
3. 113* vs SL, Colombo (SSC), 2001
Graham Thorpe’s incredible hundred played a crucial role in England’s four-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the third Test of the 2001 series. Batting first, the home team scored 241 and England replied with 249, courtesy of Thorpe’s unbeaten 113. Sri Lanka were bundled for just 81 in the second innings and England comfortably chased down the target of 74.
2. 119* vs WI, Bridgetown, 2004
Thorpe played a warrior’s knock in the first innings of the third Test against West Indies. Batting first, the Windies could make only 224 runs but their bowlers did a great job to treat the opposition batters in the same manner. Apart from Thorpe who scored an unbeaten 119, none of the English batters managed to put up a fight. However, West Indies were bowled out for just 94 runs in the second innings and England easily chased down the target of 93 to register a convincing eight-wicket win.
1. 200* vs NZ, Christchurch, 2002
Thorpe’s only double century in Test cricket came in the first Test of England’s tour of New Zealand in 2002. His unbeaten 200 off 231 balls helped England set a massive target of 550 runs. New Zealand tried their best riding on Nathan Astle’s counter-attacking double hundred but eventually fell short of 98 runs.
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