I never met Graham and have no right to any personal grief, but his tragic death was both shocking and upsetting. Many who knew Graham personally have written and spoken with great passion about the impact he had on their lives and it left me searching for a reason why my own emotions were running so high.
For those who have endured reading my drivel before, you will know that summer 1993 at 11 years old I properly fell in love with cricket. Hot off the back of my first two matches for the school U11 team I spent the summer holidays glued to the TV watching Australia dismantle us over 6 tests.
I still watch Test cricket, but somewhere around 2004 my interest waned a little, the events from 2005 – to the 2011/12 Ashes series were great but for me, different.
Until Graham’s death I had not consciously realised that my love of test cricket coincided entirely with his test career 1993 – 2005.
Back in the mid 1990’s England’s results were poor, some of the selections horrendous and the players certainly did not have the support financially or in terms or rest, training etc of the post 2000 players, but yet I still view this as a golden era. Admittedly, when I was young the old pro’s talked of the players of the 1970’s and 80’s being far better, obviously I dismissed this nonsense. Yet now I am the old one (old git more than pro – Victor Meldrew for those who remember), I am convinced that 1993-2004 was the golden era of test cricket.
The first T20 match was in 2005 , prior to that Test cricket was the biggest show in town. Many series were played over 5 tests, which to quote Mike Atherton ‘sorted the men out from the boys’. My memories of England are a talented group of players all born within a year or two of one another; Thorpe, Ramprakash, Hussain, Atherton, Gough, Cork, Headley, Butcher, Knight, Crawley with Alec Stewart and Gus Fraser as the ‘old pros’ and Tuffers the enigma.
They played against phenomenal players; Lara, Warne and Wasim being the best three I have ever seen but you can add; Tendulkar, Dravid. Kumble, Waughx2, McGrath, Pollock, Donald, Ambrose, Walsh, Bishop, Waqar, Mushtaq, Andy Flower, Inzi etc etc.
There was no easy game or series, and there was no rotation. England were very muddled at this time but Thorpe stood out. His first century came in the 3rd Test, his first test – 114* not out in the second innings at Nottingham, Gooch’s penultimate as captain. His next century came at Perth in the 5th and final test of the 94/95 Ashes series.
The point of this is not to simply recycle stats that you can get from cric-info, but the significance of both innings were huge. In 1993 England were in turmoil, they were being hammered and the test team was like a conveyor belt with several debutants. Gooch was the only other England player to score a century – Australia scored 10 in the series. Thorpe was the future, Gooch was not, Thorpe made it seem possible.
1994/95 England travelled to Australia and Darren Gough breathed life into the side, but a spate of injuries meant more conveyor belt selection. Yet, Thorpe scored a century on a fast and bouncy Perth pitch, his second in tests and both had come against the great Shane Warne – another of the 1969 vintage – another taken far too early.
Thorpe the batsman was easy on the eye, tough, but also free flowing. His pull was not dissimilar to that of Brian Lara (another vintage of 1969). He played spin and pace equally well. His signature celebration complete with head/sweatband was often the beacon of hope in some dark days.
There were some great wins along the way too – the 4th Test in Barbados (Stewies two centuries) where Graham contributed an important 84 in the second innings. 1994 at the Oval against South Africa, 4th Test in the 94/95 Ashes series, 1995 at the Oval against West Indies – each of these rare and thrilling victories were underpinned by a significant innings in England’s second innings by GP Thorpe.
Life became complicated for Graham, anyone who has read his book will know exactly how harrowing that period of his life was. He still played some wonderful cricket in between with Sri Lanka and Pakistan away being prime examples and then the double hundred in New Zealand.
Famously his comeback was at the Oval in 2003 where he scored a century against South Africa, incredible and it was emotional. Perhaps less well considered is how much that team had changed. He came into a team no longer captained by his old mate Nasser but Micheal Vaughan. The latter speaks incredibly highly of Graham’s support and commitment to that team.
That is for what stands out, everyone who played with him and especially those closest to him (Hussain, Butcher and Stewart) talk about the man behind the cricketer. His compassion, humanity and sense of fun. Not something we should ever underestimate.
I was so pleased for him that he enjoyed that winning streak over the last couple of years under Vaughan, some reward for the earlier graft. 100 tests and an average well north of 40 is a fair reward for his skill and resilience. Some of my personal favourite memories are of the younger Thorpe doing it against the odds in the mid 1990’s chaos.
The match winning contributions and the time that (with the benefit of hindsight), he hilariously booted the ball to the boundary after dropping a slip catch always stick in my mind.
He was a class act on the field but by all accounts an even better man off the field. I am not qualified to comment on mental health, it’s a great shame he was not able to comprehend the hero he was to so many.
One beacon of light, much like his batting in the 1990’s, is that his family have been able to see the incredible positive impact he had on so many people’s lives – those who met him – and those who were just lucky enough to watch him.
RIP you little genius.