England legend Graham Thorpe ended life after prolonged mental health issue, wife reveals

Graham Thorpe (Twitter)

Former England batter, Graham Thorpe ended his life after a long battle with anxiety and depression, and the same was confirmed by his wife. Thorpe is survived by his wife, Amanda Thorpe, and two daughters Kitty, 22, and Emma, 19. Former England batting coach’s untimely demise has led tributes to pour in from every corner as the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on August 5 that Thorpe had passed away at the age of 55.

In the wake of a huge loss to England Cricket losing a stalwart, Farnham Cricket Club’s match against Chipstead Cricket Club involved the observation of a minute’s silence. And the same was carried out at the Oval, Lord’s, and in Cardiff. Amanda revealed that Thorpe underwent intense mental issues and lamented that the veteran did not recover despite having her and their two kids before taking the disastrous step.

“Despite having a wife and two daughters whom he loved and who loved him, he did not get better. He was so unwell in recent times and he really did believe that we would be better off without him and we are devastated that he acted on that and took his own life. For the past couple of years, Graham had been suffering from major depression and anxiety,” said Amanda as quoted by Express.

Also Read: Ricky Ponting pays ‘deepest condolences’ to Graham Thorpe

“This led him to make a serious attempt on his life in May 2022, which resulted in a prolonged stay in an intensive care unit. Despite glimpses of hope and of the old Graham, he continued to suffer from depression and anxiety, which at times got very severe. We supported him as a family and he tried many, many treatments but unfortunately none of them really seemed to work,” she added.

Thorpe has featured in 100 Tests and 82 ODIs for England with 6744 runs and 2380 runs respectively in both formats. He has 16 centuries to his name in Tests with an unbeaten 200-run knock as his highest individual score.