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England cricket legend Graham Thorpe’s mental health was ‘spiralling down’ after a combination of Covid lockdowns and being sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), his heartbroken widow said today.
Amanda Thorpe described how the Surrey lefthander begged her to help him to die as he struggled to cope with anxiety and depression.
He attempted to take his own life in a hotel in 2022, after losing his coaching job with the ECB after a video involving the England Ashes players on tour in Australia – which Thorpe filmed – was leaked.
The former Surrey lefthander, who dazzled with the bat during a glittering career for club and country, was killed when he was struck by a train near his home on August 4 last year. He was 55 years old.
Mrs Thorpe told her husband’s inquest in Woking: ‘He asked me to help him end his life. He said he wants to go to Switzerland. I was in turmoil.
‘Then we get a letter for an appointment (with the medical team) in a month’s time.
‘How ill do you have to be?’
The 55-year-old, awarded an MBE at Buckingham Palace in 2007, was considered one of the greatest English batsmen of his generation
Amanda Thorpe described how the Surrey lefthander (pictured together) begged her to help him to die as he struggled to cope with anxiety and depression
Former England batsman Graham Thorpe, pictured in 2004, died last August
Thorpe’s wife, his father Geoff, and brothers, Alan and Ian, were all present for the hearing.
Addressing them, assistant coroner Jonathan Stevens said: ‘I appreciate this is an incredibly difficult time for you as a family.’
The coroner, referring to Mrs Thorpe’s witness statement, described how ‘up until the time of Covid there were no psychological issues’.
He said: ‘You explain Graham found lockdown and Covid very difficult, very stressful for him.’
Mrs Thorpe said: ‘Up until 2020, no there wasn’t anything in particular.
‘Maybe in 2018 he had a bout of depression but he got through that, it didn’t affect his job.’
Thorpe’s father Geoff, 83, agreed, adding: ‘Everything was fine until Covid.’
He told the inquest: ‘What you’ve got to realise is sometimes us chaps are a little bit macho – we can cope. In fact, we can’t.’
Thorpe MBE, with wife Amanda, children Kitty (then three) and Emma (then 20 months) at the time of his investiture ceremony in 2007
Referring to the Covid restrictions, he said: ‘He’s not a fella who likes to be cooped up.’
Mr Thorpe senior described how his son’s ‘life came crashing down’ when he lost his job with the ECB.
The coroner described how Thorpe ‘had his ups and downs with stress and anxiety’ in 2021, but then there was the prospect of the Ashes tour in 2021/2 where the Covid restrictions in Australia were much stricter than in the UK.
Referring to Mrs Thorpe’s statement, he said: ‘You say the environment of Covid was not good for him, would make his psychological condition worse.
‘You mention on that Tour there was an incident involving a video that was taken that drew a lot of adverse publicity.
‘You make the observation that he shouldn’t have been allowed to go to Australia, and it was inevitable there was going to be a deterioration in his mental health.’
Mrs Thorpe said: ‘Thinking about it, because he went on that Tour, he was dismissed.
‘If he hadn’t been on that Tour, then he wouldn’t be dismissed and that was ultimately what he couldn’t deal with.’
He was beloved, particularly at The Oval, where he played with distinction for Surrey
The coroner said Thorpe tried to take his own life with a cocktail of medication and alcohol in the middle of 2022.
He said: ‘Things continued to go downhill, he was really struggling, had anxiety and insomnia and it was all really dark.’
Thorpe spent three weeks unconscious in hospital after the suicide attempt. He suffered a stroke, and was in intensive care for five weeks.
He went to a private hospital, paid for by the ECB, but his mental health did not improve.
He was offered a coaching role with the Afghanistan national team but could not go because of his mental health issues.
Mrs Thorpe told the inquest: ‘He tried to do it but he was spiralling down.
‘He signed a contract and I had to tell them he was too unwell to do that job.’
Thorpe tried various types of therapy including electro-compulsive therapy, but that ‘didn’t seem to work’, the inquest heard.
Thorpe, pictured at England’s training session at the Gabba ahead of the first Ashes cricket test in Brisbane, Australia, in 2021
He made repeated threats to kill himself, including throwing himself in front of a train, his father said.
Mrs Thorpe said: ‘He told me he was scared, and I told him I was scared too because I didn’t know how to help him.’
By June 2024, Thorpe ‘had no interest in food, he wanted to hide away, totally isolated, in real crisis and despair’, the inquest heard.
The coroner described how Thorpe left the family home on the morning of August 4 2024 and was not seen alive again.
Referring to Mrs Thorpe’s witness statement, he said: ‘You had been upstairs on the phone and Graham had gone out.
‘You thought he had gone to walk the dog but then you saw the dog.
‘You tried to locate him using your phone but weren’t able to do that.
‘Then you got a call from Geoff telling you: he’s gone.’
Thorpe retired in 2005, having played in 100 Tests for England
Mrs Thorpe said: ‘He never really recovered from (his first suicide) attempt.
‘He came back from the tour of Australia in a terrible state – lots of things, the video, the environment, the set-up.
‘To be sacked after that I think it was foreseeable that it would be really really hard on him.
‘The weeks leading up to his death, he told me he doesn’t want to be here any more.
‘He asked me to help him end his life.
‘He said he wants to go to Switzerland. I was in turmoil.
‘Then we get a letter for an appointment (with the medical team) in a month’s time.
‘How ill do you have to be? I just wish he could have been kept safe. If you’re not here, there’s no hope.’
The father-of-four was considered a talisman for England, and was a veteran of 100 Test matches between 1993 and 2005.
But he also spent years battling anxiety and depression, and believed his wife Amanda and children Henry, Amelia, Kitty and Emma were better off without him.
The inquest heard his low mood and lack of motivation linked to his mental health meant that he did not always attend healthcare appointments, he would increase or decrease medication, and would drink alcohol excessively.
And he repeatedly told medical professionals that he would not attempt to kill himself.
Thorpe was born in Farnham, Surrey, and showed early promise as a footballer – even being offered trials at Brentford – but was already involved in the under-11s set-up at his home county cricket club. He did not look back.
Thorpe would go on to become one of the most revered batsmen of his generation, a rare bright spark in an England team which often failed to deliver.
His swashbuckling style and distinctive headband made him popular with fans new and old.
And he set records along the way – becoming the first England batter for 20 years to score 100 runs on his Test debut, doing so against a Shane Warne-inspired Australia at Trent Bridge in Nottinghamshire in 1993.
He would become only the eight man to reach 100 Test caps for England, scoring 6,744 runs at an average of 44.66.
But he was also plagued by demons.
Thorpe, pictured during a Test match against Sri Lanka in 2001, had demons off the cricket pitch, and long battled mental health issues
In 2002, the year he scored the third fastest double-century in Test history, Thorpe took a 12-month break from cricket as he left a tour of India amid turmoil in his first marriage due to his cheating that led to a bitter divorce and a battle with suicidal depression and alcoholism.
Thorpe admitted later after he flew back from touring India to try to save his first marriage: ‘There came a time when I would have given back all my Test runs and Test caps just to be happy again.’
Mrs Thorpe said in an interview after his death that despite having a wife and children whom he loved and who loved him, ‘he did not get better’.
Thorpe admitted later after he flew back from touring India to try to save his first marriage: ‘There came a time when I would have given back all my Test runs and Test caps just to be happy again.’
His wife said: ‘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.’
Thorpe will be honoured during the final Test match against India at The Oval next month to raise awareness of mental health.
Day two of the fifth Test will be called ‘A Day for Thorpey’ in support of charity Mind.
It falls on August 1, which would have been Thorpe’s 56th birthday.
Thorpe’s inquest is due to last until Friday.
For confidential support call Samaritans on 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org
