Graham Thorpe’s ex-England pal says he ‘stopped responding to messages for months’ and was in ‘dark place’ before death

GRAHAM THORPE stopped replying to messages months before his death, his former team-mate Alec Stewart revealed.

The pair played together for England and Surrey and became close friends over the years.

GettyAlec Stewart, right, revealed Graham Thorpe stopped responding to messages before his death[/caption]

AFPThorpe passed away in August aged 55[/caption]

Dad-of-four Thorpe took his own life aged 55 in August following a battle with depression, his wife Amanda revealed.

Stewart revealed he and many others tried to reach out to the former batsman but their efforts did not work, and he believes that is evidence of the bad place Thorpe was in.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Stewart said: “It’s so difficult to sort of get my words right on this.

“It was always going to be when, not if this would happen because it had gone on for so long, and the amount of help that had come his way, and so many people were trying to help, but you’ve got to help yourself in the end. And he just didn’t want to.

“And this is the way I’ve tried to look at it, is that we’re all very sad and upset we’ve lost a great person, but wherever he is now, he’s got to be happier because he wasn’t happy here.

“And that’s how I’ve tried to sort of deal with it, in that we’ve been selfish by being upset that Thorpey is not with us, instead of thinking that he’s much happier now wherever he is looking down on us.

“The last time I spoke to him in person was early March, because he just stopped responding. After that, you’d leave messages, whether it’s voice messages or WhatsApp messages.

“You’d see he’d read them, but that shows how dark a place he was in. So many people tried to help and reach out, it comes to that individual having to help himself.

“And that’s the sad thing about it, because as a player, we know what a fighter he was – brilliant player, brilliant person – but they say when you get in this dark place, it’s a horrible place to be.”

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.

Thorpe made his international debut in 1993 and scored a century on his first Ashes appearance, becoming the first England player to do so in 20 years.

He was an England regular and went on to play 100 Tests, scoring 16 centuries and featuring 82 times for the ODI side, as well as enjoying a 17-year career with Surrey.

His final Test appearance came in June 2005 before he was omitted from that summer’s victorious Ashes series and called time on his international career.

He was laid to rest at a private funeral last month, which Stewart attended.