“Myself and Graham toured Zimbabwe and Kenya when I was 21, he was 20. He was there right at the end for my last tour to Pakistan, so he encapsulated the whole of my career, really.
“He was our best player in the Nineties, our most complete player, he was brave and fearless against pace, and highly skilful against spin, taking hundreds off Murali and Shane Warne. I think most of all he was a fierce and unflinching competitor. If we were 20 for two first morning of a Test, you knew he was in for the fight.”
Dominic Cork, another former England team-mate, also shared his memories.
“You can’t get it back when someone goes, you quickly miss somebody a lot,” he said. “He will always stay with you. One thing I will always remember about Graham Thorpe, even before I made my debut. I remember watching him against South Africa at Headingley in 1994, his white helmet on. He didn’t always want to wear the uniform he should have, he just wanted to do it his way.
“Whatever situation you found yourself in in a game, you’d want him to get out there. He would fight, he was a little fighter. A really good man, somebody I will miss a lot.
“I went on two England A tours with him and he looked after me like a brother at times.
