Graham Thorpe, who passed away aged 55, was one of Surrey and England’s finest players of the modern era. He also went on to became an accomplished coach both for Surrey, the ECB and around the world. Richard Spiller pays tribute:
That Surrey should be playing at Guildford the day before the news that Graham Thorpe died is a sad irony to such a dreadful tragedy.
It was at Woodbridge Road, just over 25 years ago, that he played his finest and most important innings for the county and one of the best of an illustrious career.
Leading the way in the County Championship and having not won the title for 28 years, Surrey were in trouble against leading chasers Hampshire, conceding a lead of 151.
Thorpe’s fellow left handers Mark Butcher and Ian Ward provided him with the perfect platform of 107, but there was no question who held the key to the match. His magnificent 164 over more than six hours contained all the Thorpe trademarks – the push-drive on the offside which later took on a full flourish as conditions eased, flicks into gaps on the legside and whippy pulls which found the short boundaries. It enabled Surrey to set 332 for victory, to win by 156 runs, remaining unbeaten all summer in becoming champions.
Butcher described it as a “masterpiece”, adding: “Guildford was a crossroads, but our left-handed genius had photocopied the map”.
That comment underlined the regard in which his peers held Thorpe, the first England men’s player for 20 years to score a century on his Test debut – against Australia in 1993 at Trent Bridge – and who would play 100 Tests (plus 82 ODIs) over the next 12 years before a back injury curtailed his career aged 36.
The youngest of three highly competitive brothers, Graham’s all-round sporting talent was obvious from an early age and he might have chosen a career in football had things worked out differently, having been selected for England schoolboys and having a trial at Brentford.
But it was playing cricket at Farnham – the family lived nearby in Wrecclesham – where he made an early impact, being selected for the first team aged 15 and gaining a valuable lesson in how to bat in all conditions and against opponents whose greater experience compensated for lesser ability.
Thorpe’s calibre marked him out to Surrey, where he moved up through the age groups and made his first-class debut against Leicestershire at The Oval in June 1988, batting number eight and making his initial impact as a medium-pacer who trapped David Gower LBW – albeit off an inside edge which went unnoticed by the umpire – as his maiden victim.
A much more accurate snapshot of his potential came the following season when he scored his maiden first-class century, against Hampshire at Basingstoke – just down the road from home – in making 115 against Malcolm Marshall in full cry.
He would go on to score 1,132 Championship runs that year amid a struggling Surrey side and earn selection for an England A tour, the first of four in a long apprenticeship. His uneven progress in between, losing his county place for a time in 1990, would teach him the value of coping with poor form and failure, a lesson he regarded as invaluable later in his career and when coaching youngsters moving up through the game.
Thorpe’s ability to tailor his game to the circumstances of a match stood out on his first full England tour, to West Indies in 1994. First came a long and patient 86 at Port of Spain, taking up 244 minutes, which sculpted out a first innings lead and looked to be carrying England towards a hard-earned victory until they collapsed to 46 all out in the second innings.
Then came 84 off just 129 balls in Barbados, sharing a partnership of 150 with twin centurion Alec Stewart, which saw the previously dominant West Indian attack despatched to all parts of the Kensington Oval. The pair had always batted well together – their running between the wickets based on understanding as well as speed – and now the two Chelsea supporters formed an alliance which would contribute to the hosts being beaten on that ground for the first time in 59 years.
While Thorpe would enjoy a welter of medals towards the end of his Surrey career as a key member of Adam Hollioake’s team, life in the England side was rarely easy, the domination of West Indies soon followed by the Australians under Allan Border and company.
It meant the 6,744 Test runs he scored had to be hard-earned, trying to push his country towards competitive totals which often proved to be anything but. Few could unpick the mysteries of a Warne or Muralitharan as well as he could, relishing the elite competition and occasionally flashing his shy smile amid the battle.
After a period of time away from the game in 2002, he made his return, scoring a magnificent century against South Africa at The Oval in 2003, launching a successful autumn to his international career. His resilience was underlined by scoring 1,635 runs at an average of 56.37 in the twilight years of his international career under the captaincy of Michael Vaughan.
In all he scored 21,937 first-class runs at 45, including 49 centuries, 16 of them at Test level, taking 290 catches. There were 10,871 List A runs, 2,380 coming in one-day internationals. He was thrilled, in his quiet way, when Surrey named one of the rooms in the pavilion after him.
Retirement from playing – having been awarded the MBE in 2006 – saw him move into coaching, initially in Sydney with New South Wales, working with young talents like David Warner and Steve Smith.
When he came back to the UK, he returned to Surrey as batting specialist initially before taking on the Second XI and guiding the initial careers of many young Surrey players who would go onto play vital roles as their cricketing talents blossomed.
He was soon snapped up by the ECB, where he would again play a vital role, this time in developing the likes of Joe Root and Ben Stokes, putting them on the path to World Cup glory.
If you want an enduring image of Graham Thorpe, picture him batting on a parched ground overseas, doing battle with one of the great spinners of the world, clipping them or lapping them away and then smiling as they stand, hands on hips, with frustration.
