'A great player and a brilliant team mate': Vaughan, Stokes pay tribute to Thorpe

New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) Michael Vaughan and Ben Stokes are some of the past and present cricketers who paid their tributes to former England player and coach Graham Thorpe, who passed away at the age of 55.

"RIP Thorpey .. Thanks for all the advice throughout my career,you were a great player and a brilliant team mate.You have gone far too young but you leave as an England cricket legend … Thoughts with all who knew Thorpey and to all the family xxx," wrote Vaughan, the former England captain, on ‘X’.

Current England Test captain Ben Stokes posted a picture of him wearing a jersey with "Thorpe 564", the latter's Test cap number, written on the back with a series of five red heart emojis.

Thorpe played 100 Tests for England between 1993 and 2005, amassing 6,744 runs, including 16 centuries, at an average of 44.66. He also played 82 ODIs for England, making 2,380 runs at an average of 37.18, including 21 half-centuries, apart from representing Surrey in the domestic circuit from 1988 to 2005.

"Heartbreaking to see Thorpey has passed away. He was one of my heroes growing up and I was fortunate to work with him. My thoughts go out to all of his friends and family during this tough time," wrote Duckett, the current England opener, on ‘X’.

"Sad to hear about Graham Thorpe. He was a gritty and a fantastic batter who was always ready for a battle on the pitch. Heartfelt condolences to his friends and family," wrote former India leg-spinner Anil Kumble on ‘X’.

"Such tragic news about Graham Thorpe, played with and against the little legend since the age of 10, great player and human being, so young, thoughts with his family and friends x," wrote former England spinner Shaun Udal on ‘X’.

He began his coaching career with the New South Wales side in Australia, where he worked with the likes of David Warner and Steve Smith, before returning to Surrey as their batting coach for two years.

He then joined the ECB in a national lead batting coach role, working with the England Lions and younger development squads. In 2013, Thorpe became batting coach for the senior England men’s white-ball team, who eventually won 2019 ODI World Cup on home soil.

Thorpe served as an assistant coach to Chris Silverwood, and even worked as interim head coach for England's T20I series against Pakistan during Covid-19 pandemic. After England lost the Ashes 4-0, Thrope was sacked from his role and was announced as the new head coach of Afghanistan in March 2022, but fell seriously ill and couldn’t take up the role.