Opinion
Graham Thorpe was a cricketing great – and a better mate
Michael Vaughan
Former England cricket captainLike so many others I was floored by the news of Graham Thorpe’s passing on Monday. He will be hugely missed.
You just have to look at the range of tributes pouring in to get a sense of his influence on the English game. There were older guys who played with him and remember what a fabulous batsman and wonderful teammate he was. But, almost to a man, those who were coached by him since he retired as a player, like Joe Root and Ben Stokes, were also devastated by his passing.
I had huge admiration for him … Michael Vaughan (left) with Graham Thorpe in 2005.Credit: Getty
Certainly, he had a huge influence on me. When you step up a level you are always looking for that bit of help and advice, a little confidence boost. Other senior players were decent, but Thorpey was that guy for me. He wasn’t always around, because he was going through some difficulty away from the game, but when he was he threw himself whole-heartedly into team life and I benefited hugely from that. I spent a lot of time with him at night, whether over a beer or sitting in one of our rooms until the early hours with Ashley Giles, playing PlayStation and talking rubbish, just having fun.
Thorpey was in the middle with me when I got my first Test hundred, against Pakistan in 2001. We put on a big partnership and he got a hundred as well. I do think we had a special bond because of that experience and I was so glad it was him in the middle with me because he’d helped me so much. When I first played Test cricket I was in two minds about whether to be ultra-defensive or more fluent. Watching and learning from him helped me strike that balance. Even on that day, his calmness helped me through the nervous 90s.
I had huge admiration for his batting, but also his perspective on the game and life. Even if we had an absolute shocker, he would arrive the next day and everything would be parked. He would be trying to have a laugh, and nothing was too serious. His bonds with the guys from the 1990s ran so deep because of all they had experienced on and off the field and he knew how to wind people up in just the right way. Crucially, he never forgot that cricket was just a game.
I will treasure memories of Thorpey after games, with a beer and a cigar in hand, possibly even something a bit stronger. He would be taking the mickey out of his mates, then would get emotional. It was at that point he would go around reminding everyone how good they were. He was a special teammate. I was lucky enough to play with him for a few years, but I am thinking today of all those who were lucky enough to share so much more with him, with both Surrey and England.
Vaughan and Thorpe leave the field after a successful day’s play against Bangladesh in 2003.Credit: Getty
When I took over as captain in 2003, Thorpey was out of the team for personal reasons. I spent day after day with our coach, Duncan Fletcher, trying to work out how and when we could get him back in.
Thorpey came back at the end of that summer and scored a century at The Oval, his home ground, against South Africa in his great mate Alec Stewart’s last Test, which was magical. He was the player we needed, that senior rock. He was a cheeky chappy, a bit naughty, operating just on the edge of getting in trouble. I loved those players, who had been through the mill. As soon as you got him over the white line he was like a street fighter.
He was the perfect character for the younger players in that team: brilliant at passing on knowledge. He was actually at his best when you were on a bad run, making you believe you were through it. He’d tell you to stick to your processes and stay positive. Again, reminding you that it was only a game.
I loved that he always had a specific focus to his net sessions. He would just play forward defensive strokes for half an hour because that was what he was working on. Or he would try to sweep every single ball. We had a big focus on fitness in that team, but Thorpey had a bad back by then, so was clinging on a bit. I just told him to pretend to do the fitness work in front of the other lads, which he was delighted with. He was worth bending the rules for.
He stood up to the great Australian team of the 1990s at a time when not many Englishmen could.
Fletcher and I were desperate to have Thorpey with us for the 2005 Ashes, but it didn’t work out. He played his 100th Test against Bangladesh and did well, but his back just wasn’t right, so we made the very tough call to back the youth of Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell. I was gutted for him that he didn’t get to be part of 2005, but his mindset and style of play had a huge influence on every member of the XI.
I think he is massively under-appreciated in English cricket. You don’t hear his name mentioned in the list of the greatest English batsmen, but he should be right up there. Certainly, for me, he was the best of the 1990s generation.
Thorpey had a complete game against spin, and was the only player I played with who could play Muttiah Muralitharan properly, in both defence and attack, which proved the difference in that series win in Sri Lanka in 2001. It was the same earlier with the win in the dark in Pakistan.
He also stood up to the great Australian team of the 1990s at a time when not many Englishmen could. He was a brilliant player of pace, in both defence and attack, too.
With Thorpey, you always had ultimate faith and trust that he would deliver when it was most required. He could dig in to see off a bowler or go on the counter and hit someone out of the attack. He had an outstanding cricket brain and could judge every situation perfectly. I can hardly remember him getting a tactical call wrong when batting. His character thrived when the game got hot and tricky.
He was the best batsman of his generation, and he has gone on to coach and mentor the current generation. I find it a bit sad that he is not celebrated more, and that he left English cricket under a cloud in 2022. His contribution to our game deserved better than that, I think. When you look back at the last 30-odd years of English batting, I’m not sure there has been a more influential figure.
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