Graham Thorpe's wife details how tragic cricket legend battled 'so hard' against depression

Graham Thorpe's widow Amanda insists the late cricket legend battled "so hard" to beat depression before . In August, aged just 55, the former England international died following a battle with mental illness.

Thorpe "loved life" according to his wife and made sure it was "never dull" during their marriage, which spanned 17 years. Amanda has looked raise awareness of mental health following the death of her husband and admits it is hard to comprehend how the happy individual so many knew could be dealing with such demons.

The former batsman retained iconic status within the game and went into coaching after he retired. Thorpe found working under Covid restrictions a real challenge and, when England were beaten in the Ashes series that was impacted by the virus, he lost his job.

That left him in a difficult space and Amanda has reflected on the idea that suicide is a selfish act - dismissing that entirely - and claims she "will always be grateful" for the time they had together.

She said in : "Having watched it play out, I could see it is a physical illness — and it is real. It felt like he was in the grip of a sickness he just couldn’t get out of. I would like to raise awareness and increase understanding of this horrible disease. Some people say suicide is selfish. But I have so much compassion for what he went through."

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Amanda went on to admit that she never saw Thorpe as being capable of suicide: "It’s hard trying to square the witty, happy, independent Graham with the one who ended up taking his own life after two and a half awful years of anxiety and depression. Sure, he hadn’t been in a good place when we first met (after his divorce), and he could get anxious, especially before heading off on tour. But nothing out of the ordinary. Did I ever see him as someone who could do something so drastic? Never. Not for one minute.

"He tried many therapies and medications — he tried so hard to beat it. But in the end I feel something became wrong with the way Graham’s brain was wired — a chemical imbalance. He also felt immense shame about how he was, but of course there should be no stigma to suffering as he did."

Amanda also said: "It’s so hard for those of us who do not suffer from this to understand how and why it occurs. For it to happen to Graham, who was essentially a happy person, is a lesson for us all."

Thorpe made his international debut in 1993 and scored a century on his first Ashes appearance - making him the first England player to do so in 20 years. He would go on to play more than 100 tests for his country. That saw him scored 16 centuries whilst he also made 82 appearances for the ODI side.

His final Test appearance came in June 2005 before he was left out of that summer's victorious Ashes series and called time on his international career. The following year he was made an MBE before he pursued challenges outside of playing.

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