Shocking! Graham Thorpe 'took his own life,' confirms his wife Amanda and discloses heart-wrenching reasons

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the death of legendary cricketer Graham Thorpe on August 5. In a devastating interview, Graham Thorpe's wife Amanda revealed that the former England cricketer took his own life after battling depression and anxiety for an extended period.

Graham Thorpe had been struggling with a severe illness since 2022, which led him to decline the head coaching role with Afghanistan that year. He is survived by his wife, Amanda, and their two daughters, Kitty, 22, and Emma, 19.

The former batter is also survived by his first wife, Nicky, and their children, Henry and Amelia. A remembrance ceremony was held on August 10 in Farnham to honor Thorpe, who played for Surrey for 17 years and earned 100 Test caps for England.

Graham Thorpe Was So Unwell In Recent Times - Amanda

Speaking to The Times, Graham Thorpe's wife, Amanda, shared that he struggled deeply with major depression and anxiety. She revealed that he was so unwell in recent times and believed his family would be better off without him. Amanda said that he made a serious suicide attempt in May 2022.

"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. For the past couple of years, Graham had been suffering from major depression and anxiety," Amanda told Amanda The Times.

"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. 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."

Graham Thorpe represented England in 100 Test matches and 82 ODIs from 1993 to 2005. The former left-handed batter scored 6,744 runs in Test matches at an average of 44.66, including 16 centuries. He also scored almost 20,000 runs for Surrey between 1988 and 2005 before retiring from all forms of cricket.

Thorpe amassed 2,380 runs in ODIs at an average of 37.18, including 21 half-centuries. He retired from the format in 2002 but continued playing Test cricket until 2005. Thorpe had a strong performance in the 1996 and 1999 World Cups. He also captained the national cricket team in three ODIs in Sri Lanka in 2001.

In addition to his successful playing career, the former middle-order batter served as England's batting coach and assistant coach. He also took on the role of interim head coach during the COVID-19 pandemic, overseeing the T20I series against Pakistan in 2020 and the fourth Ashes Test in 2021-22.

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