Former Australian cricketer pays heartfelt tribute to late Graham Thorpe

Australia's cricket legend, Ricky Ponting, has expressed his deep condolences following the passing of Graham Thorpe, a former England cricketer, who died earlier this week after battling a long illness.

Ponting shared his memories of Thorpe, recalling their time together at Surrey County Cricket Club in 2013. Ponting, who played for Surrey during his final year of first-class cricket, spoke highly of Thorpe, calling him both a "Surrey legend" and an "English legend." Ponting became a capped player at Surrey, an achievement he holds in high regard, and felt a strong connection with the club and its storied history, which Thorpe was a significant part of.

“I had a bit of interaction with him with my time at Surrey,” Ponting said in the latest episode of The ICC Review.

“Remembering my last year of first-class cricket, (I) was actually playing for Surrey and I only played maybe half a dozen first-class games.

“But I became a capped player at the Surrey County Cricket Club, which is something that I'm extremely proud of. And obviously thought he (Thorpe) was a Surrey legend, an English legend."

Ponting highlighted the respect Thorpe commanded from some of the game's greatest players. He mentioned that Wasim Akram, the legendary Pakistani bowler, had described Thorpe as the best left-handed batsman he ever bowled to. Ponting also noted that Thorpe's English teammates affectionately nicknamed him "the little genius" for his exceptional skills on the field.

“I've heard Wasim Akram describe him as the best left-hand batsman that he ever bowled to,” Ponting said.

“A lot of his English teammates called him ‘the little genius’ for how good he was. And some of the guys that I work with in the UK now were extremely close with him.

Ponting also reflected on Thorpe’s close relationships with current cricket commentators and former players, many of whom were deeply affected by his passing. Ponting, who had recently experienced the loss of his own teammates, Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds, made it a priority to reach out to his English colleagues upon hearing the news of Thorpe's death.

“I mentioned Alec Stewart before, he was the Director of Cricket and head coach at Surrey when I was there. Guys like Ian Ward that I work with at Sky played a lot with him at Surrey. Nasser (Hussain) and Athers (Michael Atherton) obviously were extremely close with him as well.”

“As soon as the news broke, I made sure I got on the phone to those guys straight away, because it's only a couple of years ago that it happened with me with Warney (Shane Warne) and Simmo (Andrew Symonds) and those guys,” said Ponting.

“It seems like this big world of cricket, but when you lose something like that, the cricket world really shrinks down and everyone looks after each other.

“It's just another one of those really, really sad days as far as the game of cricket is concerned.

Ponting concluded by sending his deepest condolences to Thorpe's family and loved ones, extending sympathy on behalf of everyone in Australia who had the privilege of knowing or working with Graham Thorpe.

“To his family and everyone close to him, think from everyone, it's not just me, but from everyone in Australia that had anything to do with Graham Thorpe, our deepest condolences go out to you all.”