ENG vs SL: England players to wear black armbands to pay tribute to Graham Thorpe in first test against Sri Lanka

Graham Thorpe died by suicide after battling mental health issues.

The England cricket team will pay tribute to former batter Graham Thorpe, who died earlier this month, in the first match of the three-game test series against Sri Lanka.

The first test match between the two teams will start on August 21 at Old Trafford in Manchester. Before the national anthem on Day 1, hosts England will remember Thorpe. A tribute video for Thorpe will be played on the big screen at the Old Trafford ground. 

Earlier this month, Thorpe died by suicide after battling depression and anxiety for more than two years. His wife Amanda confirmed that his husband decided to take his own life amid his mental health struggles.

We’ll have our black armbands on throughout the game: Ollie Pope

England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope has confirmed that the players will wear black armbands during the Manchester test against Sri Lanka. Pope further added that Thorpe’s sudden death has impacted several English players.

“We’ll have our black armbands on throughout the game and there’ll be a tribute to him before. It has hurt a lot of people in that changing room. He was a great man. I probably had two or three years playing with him as a batting coach. I really admired him,” Pope said ahead of the series opener.

“I remember him saying one thing to me, which was: ‘Never let the runs you’re scoring define you as a person’. In a bit of a rut when you’re young, that was exactly what I needed to hear. It shows, for me, what a people’s person he was. He was loved in the changing room. He’s such a sad loss to everyone: to the country, his family, and the boys as well. He’s missed, and we’ll honour him this week,” Pope added.

England will miss the service of test captain Ben Stokes for this series due to a hamstring injury. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) named Ollie Pope as the stand-in skipper. Harry Brook was named the vice-captain for the Sri Lanka series.

Ahead of the Manchester test, both teams have already announced their playing XI.

Both teams playing XI for the first test:

England XI: Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir

Sri Lanka XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya De Silva (c), Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Milan Rathnayake

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