Micheal Atherton. (Photo Source: Getty Images)
Former England skipper Michael Atherton has paid tribute to former cricketer Graham Thorpe, who passed away recently. Atherton and Thorpe shared the field for many years, and the former described him as a fierce competitor and an empathetic teammate.
The entire cricket fraternity was shaken to its core after Thorpe passed away on August 5. An official statement released by the ECB confirmed his demise, as the 55-year-old had been battling several illnesses for several years and even had to quit his coaching assignments due to the same.
In an emotional moment, Atherton reflected on what it was like to share the field with Thorpe and recalled many moments from his career where both players shared the stage.
“Friendships in sport are not quite like nine to five friendships. You don’t clock in and clock off. You are with someone for three or four months on tour, so you get to know players exceptionally well. Myself and Graham toured Zimbabwe and Kenya with England A when I was 21, he was 20. He was there right at the end, my last tour in Pakistan, so he encapsulated the whole of my career really,” Atherton told Sky Sports.
Atherton went on to brand Thorpe as England’s “best player” in the 1990s and described how incredibly skilled he was against every kind of bowler. He remembered the latter’s knocks against Shane Warne and Muralitharan, among many other competitors.
“He was our best player in the 90s. He was our most complete player. He was brave and fearless against pace. He was highly skillful against spin – took hundreds off Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] and Shane Warne. Most of all, he was a fierce and unflinching competitor. If we were 20-2 first morning of a Test and you saw him coming out, you knew he was in for the fight,” he added.