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Former England captain Nasser Hussain has narrated an amusing anecdote about Graham Thorpe, stating that the team put him in charge of dress code to ensure that he would turn up in stuff he ordered teammates to wear. Describing Thorpe as anti-establishment, he added that the former cricketer would hardly follow dress rules and would turn up in grey trousers even if the dress code was black.
Tributes have been flowing in from across the cricketing fraternity for Thorpe, who passed away following a long battle with illness on August 5. He was only 55.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Hussain recalled how the late cricketer was rather eccentric when following dress codes. In a heartwarming chat with Ian Ward, he commented:
"He was anti-establishment. We would set rules for high commission dos and it used to be black trousers. There would be one person who turned up in grey trousers and that would be Thorpe. So, we put him in charge of dress code so that he would actually turn up in the stuff that he ordered us to wear. We absolutely miss him."
Renowned as England's most complete batter in the 1990s, Thorpe represented the team in 100 Tests and 82 ODIs, scoring 6744 and 2380 runs respectively. The left-handed batter struck 16 hundreds and 39 fifties in his Test career. He notched up 21 half-centuries in ODIs, with a best of 89.
"He did his utmost every single day to win us Test matches" - Hussain on Thorpe the cricketer
Sharing his thoughts on Thorpe as a cricketer, Hussain asserted that the former was someone who went all out to win Test matches for England. Recalling an incident when he had run out Andrew Strauss, the 56-year-old said that he got a piece of mind from the late batter.
"He'd also have a go at you. When I ran Strauss out at Lord's, I was sulking. He came out and he said, 'Nas, get over yourself mate, there's a Test match to win'. And we went on and won it with him at the other end. That summed him up really. He did his utmost every single day to win us Test matches."
Hussain, however, also admitted that Thorpe was someone whose doors were always open for a chat if someone needed it.
"He was there for my dark moments as well - when I doubted as a cricketer, captain. His door was always open. He said very little in team meetings, nothing, but if you wanted to chat with someone, you knocked on Thorpe's door, there would be a glass of red and an arm around you," an emotional Hussain recalled.
"His teammates are feeling the loss of Graham. His family must be really feeling the loss of Graham. We absolutely loved him," the former England captain added.
Post-retirement, Thorpe took up coaching and even served as one of England's assistant coaches. In March 2022, he was named Afghanistan's head coach but could not take up the post due to his illness.
