Graham Thorpe hospitalized after 'falling seriously ill'

Former England batter Graham Thorpe, 52, had to be rushed to the hospital after falling seriously ill. Thorpe was gearing up to take up the role of Afghanistan head coach after quitting England set up post-The Ashes debacle.

In a statement released by The Professional Cricketers' Association (PFA), it's mentioned that his family has requested privacy and will indulge in further details after his prognosis returns. PFA states, "Graham Thorpe has recently fallen seriously ill and is currently in hospital receiving treatment. His prognosis is unclear at this stage and we ask for privacy for him and his family at this time. Our thoughts are with Graham and his family."

Thorpe worked as an assistant coach under Trevor Balysis and then Chris Silverwood while taking up the role of coach when the latter was diagnosed with coronavirus during the recent tour of England Down Under.

The Surrey South Paw is widely regarded as one of the greats of his era and has featured in 100 Tests for England, accumulating 6,744 runs with 16 hundred to his name. Thrope also played 82 One Day Internationals (ODI), scoring 2,380 runs, including the 1996 and 1999 world cups. His top score in Test cricket was 200*, but he couldn't manage to breach the three-figure mark in ODIs. 

He played from 1993 to 2005 when he was dropped in favour of Kevin Pietersen. For Surrey, his first-class record is even more envious - 341 matches and 21,937 runs.

Thorpe's first coaching assignment was in Australia with New South Wales, which included the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner. He then took the job of ECB's batting coach. He was involved with the England side from 2010 until 2022, when he tendered his resignation.