The English Players are wearing black armbands against Sri Lanka on Day 1 of the first Test at Old Trafford Manchester on Wednesday, August 21. The team has done this gesture in memory of former England cricketer Graham Thorpe as a tribute to the former great. England will be playing a three-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Ollie Pope will lead the team at Old Trafford following former captain Ben Stokes' hamstring injury playing the Hundred last week. England would be eyeing another dominant series win here and get up on the WTC points table.
Thorpe’s lasting legacy
Before the start of play, both teams paid tribute to the legend by lining up on the outfield. The English legend died on August 4 at the age of 55. Thorpe passed away at the age of 55 on August 4, after suffering from what his wife Amanda described as "major depression and anxiety". She said that her husband took his own life because of it.
Thorpe had played 100 Tests and 82 ODIs for England between 1993 and 2005 and has also served as batting coach between 2019 and 2022. He scored 6,744 runs in Test cricket, with 16 centuries, at an average of 44.66 to his name. The left-handed batter also amassed 2380 runs with 21 fifties at an average of 37.18.
"We'll have our black armbands on throughout the course of the game and there'll be a tribute to him. It hurt a lot of people in that changing room. He was a great man. I probably had two or three years playing with him as a batting coach. I really admired him. I remember him saying one thing to me, which was: 'Never let the runs you're scoring define you as a person'. In a bit of a rut when you're young, that was exactly what I needed to hear. It shows, for me, what a people's person he was. He was loved in the changing-room. He's such a sad loss to everyone: to the country, his family and the boys as well. He's missed, and we'll honour him this week." Said Ollie Pope on Tuesday ahead of the game.
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