Graham Thorpe

[rentaghost]

TBF I think Cairns crossed the line first. It just goes to show that Alec Stewart is a tit. He should be keeping that to himself not telling a bunch of pissed up fellas on a night out.

Well he did say a short, stocky left handed bat, county and international colleague of mine. Could have been Mark Butcher I suppose

 

[Mackem DJ]

Was a great player and also played against much better bowlers than are around now

Never gave his wicket away and often got England out of a hole

This. It was a bad move leaving him out of that Ashes series and picking Bell instead (Still won mind). Good catcher too.

 

[dixonsafc]

My favourite batsman as a kid when I first got into cricket. Used to love watching him bat, seemed to be the best by a mile in that side. Saved loads of games with cracking knocks.

 

[peterleeyacker]

you missed of Robin 'the judge' Smith, he only had to face the West Indies of that era. Would also suggest Ather's as it was only really Mcgrath who got the better of him.

I loved to watch robin smith anarl. He used to take what the west indies through at him

 

[scotch]

This. It was a bad move leaving him out of that Ashes series and picking Bell instead (Still won mind). Good catcher too.

Sorry if SEB, but having read Vaughan's auto biography, i remember him stating that one of the problems with Thorpe, was they didn't believe his back would hold up over 5 tests and they didn't want to disrupt the team

 

[Mr Redknapp]

Sorry if SEB, but having read Vaughan's auto biography, i remember him stating that one of the problems with Thorpe, was they didn't believe his back would hold up over 5 tests and they didn't want to disrupt the team

that would make alot of sense.

 

[Wise Man Says]

Very classy player in an awful England era, he's be averaging close to 50 today.

Suffered a lot of injuries though, I remember a game v South Africa (think it was 1998 at Old Trafford when we hung on for a draw and eventually won the series) when he came in low down the order with a fucked back and was bowled first ball, poor bloke could barely walk out to the crease but still gave it a go for the team.

 

[The Breen Machine]

Very classy player in an awful England era, he's be averaging close to 50 today.

Suffered a lot of injuries though, I remember a game v South Africa (think it was 1998 at Old Trafford when we hung on for a draw and eventually won the series) when he came in low down the order with a fucked back and was bowled first ball, poor bloke could barely walk out to the crease but still gave it a go for the team.

I remember that aswell, he looked absolutely crippled

 

[redandwhiterob]

What was the crack with his marital problems, was he the one that was humping about?

 

[Deleted member 26]

If he played in this team he'd be averaging over 50 easy....
He was our best player by a country mile during an era of shite batsmen. Easily my favourite player growing up.

Second favourite was the Judge, his square cuts are legendary. just a shame he couldn't play spin to save his life. He still averaged over 43 though....

What was the crack with his marital problems, was he the one that was humping about?

Was it not his mrs (allegedly)...

 

[The Breen Machine]

What was the crack with his marital problems, was he the one that was humping about?

He got pissed one night in New Zealand and woke up with a bird, although he wasn't sure if he'd actually shagged her or not, and I think it was a newspaper set up. Anyway it came out in the press and his wife stayed with him for another 4 years or thereabouts but then it all went tits up and he took it really badly, she started seeing a family friend and being a complete cow according to Thorpe. After a year of seperation he went back but walked out again after 10 days as after all the hurt she caused he found he couldn't love her anymore. Then he came back into the England team and was fine until retirement.

Thats his side of the story anyway

 

[Ginger Ninja]

I was in Barbados for the test when we went 3-0 up in 2004 and he scored a superb century. He was only on about 60-70 when we were 7 down but then expertly worked with Hoggard, Harmison and Jones to get us past the Windies score and finish 126 no. Very low scoring game but he never looked in any trouble whereas a load of other quality batsmen such as Vaughan, Trecothick, Lara, Chanderpaul etc struggled with the pitch.