Waverley Borough Council have approved the naming of the road next to Graham Thorpe’s boyhood club as ‘Graham Thorpe Drive’ to honour the life of the England and Surrey legend.
Graham, one of the greatest batters to grace the game, played 100 Test matches for England as well as 189 multi-day games for the Three Feathers, scoring nearly 22,000 runs in his first-class career. On 4 August last year, aged 55, he took his own life after struggling with anxiety and depression for several years.
The left-handed prodigy first received a senior contract at Surrey in 1988 as an 18-year-old, making his County Championship debut against Leicestershire the same year. It was playing first-team cricket at Farnham Cricket Club, though, where his talent initially burst through, catching Surrey’s attention.
The link to the Surrey-based cricket club, which laid down a platform for Graham to show his cricketing calibre, runs deep in the Thorpe family. Graham’s dad, Geoff, was a former chair there, and his mother, Toni, was a longstanding scorer. His brothers, Ian and Alan, were skippers of the first team at one point, and his nephew, Nathan, currently plays for them.
The town of Farnham also has a tradition of celebrating its sporting greats, people such as Billy Beldham, Mike Hawthorn and Jonny Wilkinson, by naming streets after them. The new ‘Graham Thorpe Drive’ that has now joined the illustrious list, however, is not the only lane coined in the great man’s name.
Over 10,000 km away from Farham is the ‘Graham Thorpe Mawatha’ in Surrey Cricket Village in Magonna on the west coast of Sri Lanka. Graham was greatly admired there for supporting Surrey’s efforts to help construct the village after the devastating tsunami of 2004.
Back then, the charity Oval Cricket Relief Trust was originally set up around the all-star charity T20 match held at The Oval in June 2005 that raised £1m for the rebuilding of Maggona. Since then, the trust has also helped fund projects in other countries, including Grenada, Barbados, India and Haiti.
“In consultation with the family, I submitted an application to the local authority to have the lane adjacent to Farnham Cricket Club named ‘Graham Thorpe Drive’,” says David Gill, a member of Surrey’s General Committee and the chair of Farnham Sports Council. “After all, he’s one of the town’s all-time sporting greats.
“After persevering through a series of hurdles, it was finally approved and the road sign is now up, and it is in the perfect location.
“The family and the cricket club are naturally delighted, and Graham will doubtless be looking down with a smile on his face. The road naming is a permanent tribute and reminder of a great servant to the sport of cricket.”
Speaking to Farnham Herald, Geoff Thorpe, Graham’s father, shares: “On behalf of my family, I would like to express our gratitude to Farnham and Waverley Council and David Gill of Farnham Sports Council for their support in the naming of ‘Graham Thorpe Drive’ at the entrance to Farnham Park adjacent to Farnham Cricket Club’s ground.
“It is a tremendous honour for his memory to be acknowledged in this way for his sporting achievement. A Farnham born and bred man whose life was tragically cut short by anxiety and depression.”
