With world cricket still mourning the passing of Graham Thorpe, the late England cricketer's wife Amanda has revealed his real cause of death, saying that he took his own life after years of battling depression. Thorpe died on August 5, 2024 at the age of 55, sending the entire cricketing world in a state of shock. Wishes poured in from all corners of the globe with several former cricketers from Australia, England, Pakistan and India sending their condolences to Thorpe's family.
However, the mystery around Thorpe's death continues to exist after no cause was mentioned in the official statement carried out by the England Cricket Board. As it turned out, Thorpe committed suicide, as mentioned by Amanda, who went on to explain how the last couple of years had been rough on Thorpe and his entire family.
"Despite having a wife and two daughters whom he loved and who loved him, he did not get better. He was so unwell in recent times and he really did believe that we would be better off without him and we are devastated that he acted on that and took his own life," Amanda told The Times.
Thorpe tried to take his life in 2022
Thorpe, a damn good middle-order batter for England in the 1990s and early 2000s, was a well-respected figure in the English cricketing circuit. He represented his country in 100 Tests and went on to score 6744 runs including 16 centuries. For Surrey, he was a batting giant, pummelling over 20,000 runs. Post his retirement from the game, he served as England's batting coach and was named Afghanistan's head coach in 2022, a role he refused due to mental health issues. It was around the same time that Thorpe attempted taking his own life due to prolonged mental illness.
{{/usCountry}}Thorpe, a damn good middle-order batter for England in the 1990s and early 2000s, was a well-respected figure in the English cricketing circuit. He represented his country in 100 Tests and went on to score 6744 runs including 16 centuries. For Surrey, he was a batting giant, pummelling over 20,000 runs. Post his retirement from the game, he served as England's batting coach and was named Afghanistan's head coach in 2022, a role he refused due to mental health issues. It was around the same time that Thorpe attempted taking his own life due to prolonged mental illness.
{{/usCountry}}"For the past couple of years, Graham had been suffering from major depression and anxiety. This led him to make a serious attempt on his life in May 2022, which resulted in a prolonged stay in an intensive care unit," added Amanda.
"Despite glimpses of hope and of the old Graham, he continued to suffer from depression and anxiety, which at times got very severe. We supported him as a family and he tried many, many treatments but unfortunately none of them really seemed to work."