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As England kickstarts the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka, who are touring the nation for the first time in eight years for a Test series, the hosts are set to pay a special tribute to former England cricketer and late legend, Graham Thorpe. The Three Lions on the eve of the first Test, which is scheduled to get underway at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester, confirmed that they will be donning black armbands to honour the late cricketer.
“We’ll have our black armbands on throughout the game, and there’ll be a tribute to him before,” England captain, Ollie Pope confirmed on Tuesday. The England batter also expressed his grief on the demise of Thorpe as he said, “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 admired him.”
Moreover, the players will also mark a period of silence ahead of the start of the match whereas the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) also plans to play a video, encapsulating his time with England.
It is to be noted that Graham Thorpe passed away on the morning of August 4 after suffering “traumatic injuries” during the incident at the Esher Railway Station, according to Surrey coroner’s court in Woking. The area coroner for Surrey, Simon Wickens, confirmed the cause of Thorpe's death as one of multiple injuries. Earlier, his wife, Amanda had revealed that Thorpe took his own life in an interview.
Speaking of the late 55-year-old, in an international career spanning 12 years, Graham Thorpe played 100 Tests for England, scoring 6,744 runs at an average of 44.66 with 16 hundreds. In his ODI career, the left-handed batter made 82 appearances, accumulating 2,380 runs at an average of 37.18 with 21 fifties.
