The England players will wear black armbands throughout the first Sri Lanka Test in Manchester to pay tribute to the late Graham Thorpe.
Thorpe, regarded as one of England’s finest batters, passed away at the age of 55 earlier this month. The batter made 6,744 runs and averaged 44.66, playing exactly 100 Test matches between 1993 and 2005.
Ahead of the Test, Ollie Pope, the stand-in England skipper confirmed his side would be wearing black armbands in remembrance of Thorpe. “We'll have our black armbands on throughout the course of the game and there'll be a tribute to him before. 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.”
Sri Lanka are also wearing black arm bands.
Teams will line up for a moment of applause at Old Trafford
In addition to wearing black armbands, the England and Sri Lanka teams also lined up for a minute of applause before the start of the national anthems. A video paying tribute to Thorpe was also played out on the big screens.
It is with great sadness that we share the news that Graham Thorpe, MBE, has passed away.
— England and Wales Cricket Board (@ECB_cricket) August 5, 2024
There seem to be no appropriate words to describe the deep shock we feel at Graham's death. pic.twitter.com/VMXqxVJJCh
Last week, Thorpe’s wife confirmed that the former player had taken his own life after battling from “major depression and anxiety.”
In May 2022, Thorpe had made a serious attempt at taking his own life, following which Ben Stokes, in his first game as full-time Test captain, wore a shirt with Thorpe’s name.
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