Former England captain Nasser Hussain has shared an interesting anecdote about Graham Thorpe, sharing that the team put him in charge of dress code to make sure that he would turn up in stuff he ordered teammates to wear as well. Saying Thorpe was anti-establishment, he also added that the veteran would hardly follow dress rules and would wear grey trousers even if the dress code was black as well.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Hussain recalled in a heartwarming chat with Ian Ward: “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.”
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However, known as England’s most complete batter in the 1990s, Graham Thorpe represented the team in 100 Tests and 82 ODIs, smashing 6744 and 2380 runs respectively. The left-handed batter hit 16 tons and 39 fifties in his Test career. He scored 21 half-centuries in ODIs, with a best of 89 as well. Sharing his thoughts on Thorpe as a cricketer, Hussain added that the former was someone who went all out to win Test matches for England as well.
“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,” he stated.
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“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. His teammates are feeling the loss of Graham. His family must be really feeling the loss of Graham. We absolutely loved him,” Nasser Hussain concluded.
