 "England to pay tribute to Graham Thorpe in first Sri Lanka Test at Old Trafford")
England cricket team will pay tribute to the late Graham Thorpe before the Test series against Sri Lanka, which begins in Manchester on Wednesday.
Thorpe, a former England batter, took his own life at the age of 55 on August 4, after suffering from “major depression and anxiety”. Thorpe averaged 44.66 in a 100-match Test career, and was later their batting coach and assistant coach until leaving that role after the 2021-22 Ashes tour.
He worked with most of England’s squad for the Sri Lanka series in that role and was particularly influential in the careers of Joe Root and Ben Stokes.
In his first Test as England captain, Stokes wore a shirt bearing Thorpe’s name to the toss following a previous attempt on his own life which left him seriously ill.
“We’ll have our black armbands on throughout the course of the game and there’ll be a tribute to him before,” Ollie Pope, who is standing in for Stokes as captain, said on Tuesday. “It’s hurt a lot of people in that changing-room. He was a great man. I probably had two or three years playing with him as a batting coach. I really admired him.
“I remember him saying one thing to me, which was: ‘Never let the runs you’re scoring define you as a person’. In a bit of a rut when you’re young, that was exactly what I needed to hear. It shows, for me, what a people’s person he was. He was loved in the changing-room. He’s such a sad loss to everyone: to the country, his family and the boys as well. He’s missed, and we’ll honour him this week.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBefore play begins, the teams will line up for a moment of applause before the national anthems, with a tribute video played on the big screens. The local broadcaster Sky Sports will also pay tribute to Thorpe in their coverage, with many of their commentators counting him as a long-time teammate and a close friend.
An inquest into Thorpe’s death said that he died from “traumatic injuries” after being struck by a train at Esher railway station in Surrey on August 4.
England will also recognise James Anderson’s career throughout the Test, with the former seamer due to ring the bell before the start of play, at the pavilion end of the ground which was named after him in 2017.
They will celebrate his achievements as an England player during the lunch break, with former skipper Michael Atherton scheduled to make a presentation to him.
The organisers have sold around 14,500 advance tickets for the first two days of the Test, with Friday sold out.
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