A year on, Graham Thorpe’s family to remember him at The Oval Test

Come 1 August, Graham Thorpe – the rock of England batting in the Nineties who ended his life last year – would have been 56 years. The Thorpe family wants to celebrate his birthday with a poignant A Day for Thorpey programme during the second day of England-India final Test at The Oval and funds raised from the event will go to their mental health charity ‘Mind.’

When wife Amanda Thorpe admitted to the media that the cricketer had taken his life after a prolonged battle with depression and anxiety on 4 August last year – it was more like the cricketing fraternity’s worst fears coming true. The former England and Surrey star, who had taken up coaching roles after his retirement, had suffered severe bouts of depression off and on before and tried to commit suicide once as well.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Amanda and daughters Kitty and Emma revealed that trademark headbands that Thorpe wore while batting with GT inscribed on them will be sold to the spectators to raise funds for the charity.  In the run-up to A Day for Thorpey, Amanda has visited ‘Bat and Chat’ in Burton-upon-Trent - an initiative from Mind designed to support mental health through cricket.

The sessions are to be renamed ‘Thorpey’s Bat and Chat’ and funds raised from the day at The Oval will be used to roll them out across the country. ‘’That day (at The Oval) will be very powerful. We want to celebrate him and his memory. His light was so bright. He’ll go on."

Daughter Kitty added: ‘’Death and grief in general isn’t talked about enough, considering it happens to everyone. It surrounds us. When you add the layer of death by suicide, that makes it even more taboo.

‘’I understand it’s difficult to talk about - people don’t want to say the wrong thing. That doesn’t help tackle the stigma around it. We need to change the way we’re addressing the topic. That’s why we're working with Mind to do something to help that.’’

Surrey county added in a statement: "The life of England and Surrey cricketer Graham Thorpe will be remembered and celebrated on Friday, 1 August 2025, during the second day of the final Test Match in the series between England v India. A Day for Thorpey will be held at the Kia Oval Cricket Ground, London, in support of mental health charity Mind, on what would have been Graham's 56th birthday."

Incidentally, Thorpe was not the first high profile victim of depression in England or world cricket. The most shocking incident of David Bairstow, former wicketkeeper and Jonny’s father, who took his life at 46 years still rankles the fans. The incident had left a big scar on Jonny, then only eight, as he wrote about it in his book A Clear Blue Sky and how his mother Janet fought to hold the family together.

A visibly emotional Emma said during the interview: ‘’My dad was quite a private person, so for us to share his and our experience is important to help other people who have gone through similar things. To start a conversation, to reduce the shame and stigma there are around these conversations.’’

Kitty added: ‘’Our key message is to speak up and reach out for help early on. There is help out there. It needs to be spoken about more.’’

A graceful left-hander, Thorpe was one of only 17 men to reach 100 Test caps for England, scoring 6744 runs at an average of 44.66. He was part of the England staff during the taxing 2021-22 Ashes in Australia, played under Covid restrictions. He was let go after England lost that series 4-0.

He was named head coach of Afghanistan in March 2022, then made a first attempt on his life in May of the same year, subsequently spending a prolonged period in intensive care. 

‘’Working in the Covid bubbles, he found that tough,’’ said Amanda. ‘’He wasn't great at following rules at the best of times. He would turn up for a team dinner in the wrong clothes, that is if he turned up at all. The last tour he did when he was coaching, the Ashes, that was a really hard tour because there were still full Covid restrictions.

 ‘’It was all very stressful and he wasn’t great on that trip. Then he came back, and as happens, his job ended, then he got offered another job. It was hard for him, probably harder than we knew. He got a lot worse then, very quickly, actually.’’