Over the years and especially in recent years there have been many sports personalities I have admired that have died. Recent we learned of the death of the cricketer Graham Thorpe.

According to Wikipedia “Graham Paul Thorpe MBE (1 August 1969 – 4 August 2024) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Surrey, and represented England in 100 Test matches. He also played 82 One Day Internationals (ODIs) including appearances at the 1996 and 1999 World Cups and deputised as captain on three occasions”. He was an outstanding talent who played his best cricket facing stiff opposition, contributing significantly to the English national team. It was not my intention to blog but besides being a player I admired in a game I love, his end has a lot to do with a subject that concerns me and represented an important area of my community activism – helping set up a mental health charity (Trust Links) and later when trying to help homeless folk. The issue is mental health and what often happens with those with mental ill health – addictive behaviour.   

Tragically we learn Graham Thorpe’s wife reveals former England cricketer killed himself (see here).  The article continues: “Graham Thorpe’s family have said the former England batter took his own life after suffering with depression and anxiety. Thorpe’s death at the age of 55 was announced last week. One of 17 men to play 100 Tests for England, the left-hander represented his country from 1993 to 2005 and hit 16 Test centuries. As a coach with the England and Wales Cricket Board in his post-playing career he was part of the backroom staff when the men’s side won the 2019 World Cup. Thorpe was named head coach of Afghanistan in March 2022 but in May that year it was announced that he was “seriously ill” in hospital. In an interview with his former teammate Michael Atherton in the Times, Amanda, Thorpe’s wife, revealed he had attempted to take his own life, prompting “a prolonged stay in an intensive care unit”. She said: “Despite glimpses of hope and of the old Graham, he continued to suffer from depression and anxiety, which at times got very severe. We supported him as a family and he tried many, many treatments but unfortunately none of them really seemed to work. “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.” “We are not ashamed of talking about it,” said Thorpe’s daughter Kitty. “There is nothing to hide and it is not a stigma. We were trying to help him get better before and trying to protect him, which is why we said nothing. This is the time now to share the news, however horrible it is. We’ve wanted to be able to talk and share and we’d now like to raise awareness, too. “He had loved life and he loved us but he just couldn’t see a way out. It was heartbreaking to see how withdrawn he had become. He was not the same person. It was strange to see this person trapped in the body of Dad. That’s why we’ve been so happy that the many reflections have been about his life before this illness took over. I’m glad that’s how everyone does remember him, rightly so, as the complete character he was.””

When I read about yet another cricketer suffering will mental health and in Graham’s case deciding to end it all, my mind was cast back to other cricketers who had their own struggles in this area. When I googled “cricketers mental health” my first hit was an article titled: “Cricket Still Pushes Mental Health Of Its Players To The Limit”. The article begins: “Cricket is a sport that stretches every single sinew and thought process. By its very nature, it drains the emotions due to its duration and unique uncertainty. Even though Tests are becoming shorter, the mental toll on its inhabitants is huge. Viewers of the Ben Stokes documentary, Phoenix From the Ashes, would have seen a man under considerable stress. The England captain took a six-month break from the game in 2021, citing panic attacks and the burdens of the psychological pressure that he underwent”. Stokes and Thorpe are more recent additions to cricketers and indeed from all walks of life that have had their issues with mental ill health.

I don’t have any particular words of wisdom of my own to add other than reading about this tragic death reminded me of the struggles many face although often not seen by most and, even if they do see, often too little is done to help. The reasons for having a mental health issue are many and complex and so is what follows. The best we can do is to act with compassion. While I could have done more and am all too well aware of my own struggles over the years, the tragic news of Graham Thorpes death is something that should cause us to help in whatever way we can. I end with the quote (see above) by a great comedian. While we don’t see eye to eye on a number of things, particularly that concerning God, he is someone who understands the issues (having had his own struggles) and like me is a cricket lover – Stephen Fry.