Cricket doesn’t want you to know this timeline.
Graham Thorpe’s last in-person contact with mental health professionals was March 26, 2024. He died by suicide on August 4. Four months without monitoring for a man who’d already attempted suicide.
The coroner was direct: “Someone should have gone to see him.”
The System That Abandoned a Hero
Thorpe scored 6,744 Test runs across 100 matches. He mentored England’s batting stars for years. His coaching contract ended. Everything unraveled.
His widow Amanda revealed the job termination was “the start of the decline of his mental health.” The system failed to catch his crisis.
The care gaps weren’t subtle. No face-to-face assessment for four months. No monitoring despite previous attempts. Clear “shortcomings in care.”
Cricket’s Hidden Epidemic
Thorpe wasn’t an isolated case.
Research reveals 20 test cricketers have died by suicide – 715.4 per 100,000. Most in retirement, linked to health issues, financial problems, inadequate support.
The numbers keep climbing. In 2020, 94 Professional Cricketers’ Association members were diagnosed with mental health issues, up from 72 in 2018.
Cricket creates heroes, then abandons them.
Beyond Individual Tragedy
Mental health services for cricketers “are not underpinned by research evidence.” Support varies wildly, creating “inconsistent practice and resource allocation.”
Cricket’s mental health response is improvised and inadequate.
Thorpe’s family courageously revealed his struggle to remove stigma. Amanda Thorpe emphasized mental illness “can affect anyone” and urged people to “not be ashamed of talking about it.”
Talking isn’t enough when systems fail.
The Accountability Gap
Cricket celebrates its legends while their mental health deteriorates in retirement. The sport generates millions but can’t ensure basic care for former players.
Male athletes face three times higher suicide risk than the general population. Cricket knows this. The data exists.
Graham Thorpe died because cricket’s mental health system failed him when he needed it most.
“A Day for Thorpey” will fund mental health programs. It shouldn’t take a preventable death to force change.
Cricket has the resources, data, and moral obligation to protect its people. How many more heroes will cricket lose before it acts?