Graham Thorpe

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Graham Thorpe

England
Personal information
Full name Graham Paul Thorpe
Nickname Stumpy
Born 1 August 1969 (1969-08-01) (age 38)
Farnham, Surrey, England
Role Middle-order batsman
Batting style Left-handed
Bowling style Right arm medium
International information
Test debut (cap 564) 1 July 1993: v Australia
Last Test 5 June 2005: v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 122) 19 May 1993: v Australia
Last ODI 2 July 2002: v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years Team
1988 – 2005 Surrey
Career statistics
Test ODI FC LA
Matches 100 82 341 354
Runs scored 6744 2380 21937 10871
Batting average 44.66 37.18 45.04 39.67
100s/50s 16/39 0/21 49/122 9/80
Top score 200* 89 223* 145*
Balls bowled 138 120 2387 721
Wickets 0 2 26 16
Bowling average – 48.50 53.00 40.56
5 wickets in innings – – 0 0
10 wickets in match – n/a – n/a
Best bowling – 2/15 4/40 3/21
Catches/stumpings 105/– 42/– 290/– 168/–

As of 29 November 2007
Source: Cricinfo

Graham Paul Thorpe MBE (born August 1, 1969 in Farnham, Surrey) is an English cricketer who played for Surrey and England.

Naturally right-handed in everything but batting, when he was six years old Thorpe changed his stance to make it harder for his two elder brothers to get him out and because the boundary in his garden was shorter on the leg-side for a left-hander.

Thorpe made his debut for Surrey in 1988, and his international debut in 1993. He scored a century (114 not out) in the second innings of his debut Test match, against Australia at Trent Bridge. Developing into a very highly-regarded player, he was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1998.

Thorpe hit only one four in his hundred against Pakistan at Lahore in November 2000. It also contained seven threes, 12 twos and 51 singles. He hit another boundary before being dismissed for 118. No other batsman has scored 100 runs in a Test with just one boundary.

In the 2002 season, Thorpe had well-publicised marital difficulties which seriously affected his play and his focus on the game. Seemingly disillusioned with constant touring away from his family, he announced his retirement from the one-day game and changed his mind several times on whether to tour Australia, eventually pulling out of the tour entirely. However, in 2003 a rested Thorpe, with family problems behind him, returned to the England team in the fifth Test against South Africa at his home ground of The Oval, where he was welcomed with a standing ovation. Thorpe scored a century, and remained in the side until he played his 100th Test against Bangladesh in June 2005.

He announced his retirement from Test cricket after the England selectors chose Kevin Pietersen instead of him in the first Test of The Ashes in July 2005, and his retirement from domestic cricket in August 2005. He served New South Wales as a batting coach in two seasons starting in 2005/6 and played for UTS-Balmain in the Sydney First Grade competition. Thorpe was named as assistant coach of New South Wales in 2007 replacing Matthew Mott who was promoted to the position of coach.[1]

Graham Thorpe's career performance graph.
Graham Thorpe's career performance graph.

Thorpe was created a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 17 June 2006. [2]

Thorpe made his debut as a summariser for BBC Radio's Test Match Special programme during the first test of India's 2007 tour of England. He also appeared as a match summariser on Sky Sports' highlights coverage for the same series. He has written a monthly column for the UK-based cricket magazine, SPIN World Cricket Monthly, since December 2006. [3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Melbourne Age, "Thorpe new NSW cricket assistant coach" 6 July 2007
  2. ^ Thorpe/Ferguson head honours list bbc.co.uk Friday, 16 June 2006
  3. ^ Graham Thorpe playing innings of his life telegraph.co.uk 13 August 2007

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Englishmen with 100 or more Test caps
Alec Stewart 133 • Graham Gooch 118 • David Gower 117 • Mike Atherton 115 • Colin Cowdrey 114 • Geoffrey Boycott 108 • Ian Botham 102 • Graham Thorpe 100
v • d • e
England squad - 1996 Cricket World Cup
1 Atherton (c) • 2 Cork • 3 DeFreitas • 4 Fairbrother • 5 Gough • 6 Hick • 7 Martin • 8 Illingworth • 9 Russell (wk) • 10 NMK Smith • 11 RA Smith • 12 Stewart • 13 Thorpe • 14 White
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England squad - 1999 Cricket World Cup
1 Stewart (c/wk) • 2 Austin • 3 Croft • 4 Ealham • 5 Fairbrother • 6 Flintoff • 7 Fraser • 8 Gough • 9 Hick • 10 Hollioake • 11 Hussain • 12 Knight • 13 Mullally • 14 Thorpe • 15 Wells • Coach: Lloyd
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