Former England captain Michael Atherton has paid an emotional tribute to Graham Thorpe, his teammate, who passed away recently. Saying Thorpe was a fierce and unflinching competitor in the field, Atherton described him as a sensitive teammate. However, the cricket world was shocked by the sudden demise of Thorpe on August 5 as well. An official statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
confirmed his death as he had been battling illness for the last couple of years, forcing him to quit his coaching assignments too.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Atherton said, “Friendships in sport are not quite like nine to five friendships. You don’t clock in and clock off. You are with someone for three or four months on tour, so you get to know players exceptionally well. Myself and Graham toured Zimbabwe and Kenya with England A when I was 21, he was 20. He was there right at the end, my last tour in Pakistan, so he encapsulated the whole of my career really.”

However, the former England captain further said that Thorpe was the team’s best player in the 1990s and also lauded him for his fighting spirit as well. Sharing his thoughts on the late cricketer, Atherton admitted that things were tough at times, especially on long tours, but stated that they had a lot of fun as well with Thorpe.

“He was our best player in the 90s. He was our most complete player. He was brave and fearless against pace. He was highly skillful against spin – took hundreds off Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] and Shane Warne. Most of all, he was a fierce and unflinching competitor. If we were 20-2 first morning of a Test and you saw him coming out, you knew he was in for the fight. Of course, when you live in and out of each other’s pockets, it’s not all easy. There are moments when it’s difficult. But, we had a lot of fun with him. He was a sensitive, empathetic teammate and we’ll miss him,” Michael Atherton concluded.