Graham Thorpe death inquest hears Ashes drinking video caused mental health damage

An inquest into the tragic death of Graham Thorpe has heard how a leaked drinking video from the 2021-22 Ashes series caused “catastrophic damage” to the England cricket legend’s mental health.

Thorpe was found dead last August, two-and-a-half years on from a 4-0 series defeat in Australia, the fallout from which saw him lose his job as England assistant.

One of the series’ biggest storylines came off the field after police at 6am broke up post-series drinks at a Hobart hotel, that included Joe Root, Jimmy Anderson, Alex Carey, Travis Head and Nathan Lyon.

Vision of the incident was leaked, and later traced back to Thorpe who filmed it and shared the footage with some friends.

According to reports in the UK, Surrey Coroner’s Court heard during the first day of the inquest on Wednesday that Thorpe was “distraught, horrified, ashamed,” and “terrified” by the leak.

His wife Amanda told the court in a statement that he had said sorry to everyone involved but remained “very stressed” over the incident.

Vision of the incident was leaked, and later traced back to Thorpe who filmed it and shared the footage with some friends. Source: FOX SPORTS

Thorpe was first diagnosed with anxiety and depression in 2018, though his condition became worse during the Covid pandemic.

He was taken to Australia for the 2021-22 series where his mental state continued to deteriorate amid the nation’s stricter lockdown restrictions, and the intensity of the series.

His wife and father, Geoff, believed he shouldn’t have gone on the tour, but admitted it would have been hard for him to remain in England, too, the court heard.

“Really thinking about it… because he went on that tour, he was dismissed,” Amanda said, according to The Telegraph. “That ultimately was what he couldn’t deal with.

“I don’t think he realised how ill he was. He wishes he hadn’t gone because of all that happened after.

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“He came back from the tour of Australia in such a terrible state. It was down to lots of things; the video, the whole environment.”

Thorpe was sacked soon after the series — a decision which was described as a “real shock” to the former batter.

In a statement to the court, his father Geoff said that the leaked drinking session video caused “catastrophic damage”, while his son’s life “came crashing down” as a result of his termination.

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The statement said that Thorpe “felt a failure, spiralled into depression”, and lost his confidence along with experiencing anxiety, insomnia, a loss of appetite and guilt.

Thorpe later turned down a job with the Afghanistan national team in 2022 due to his condition.

He reportedly made his first suicide attempt in April of that year, less than three months after losing his job with England, and spent several weeks in hospital.

On August 4 2024, Thorpe left his home and was never seen alive again.

Assistant coroner Jonathan Stevens said: “Things continued to go downhill, he was really struggling, had anxiety and insomnia and it was all really dark”.

His wife told the court: “He was really suffering – it was awful to see – he just felt that no one could help him.”

In the weeks leading up to his death, Thorpe reached the point where he asked his wife Amanda to help him go to an assisted dying clinic in Switzerland, the court heard.

Thorpe played 100 Tests for England between 1993 and 2005, averaging 44.66 while making 16 centuries.

The inquest into his death continues.

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