England captain Ben Stokes paid a touching tribute to Graham Thorpe ahead of the first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord's.
Thorpe played exactly 100 Test matches for England between 1993 and 2005 and also worked as a coach with the national team for around a decade, only leaving his role as assistant coach in February following the Ashes. Last month, the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) announced that Thorpe was "seriously ill" in hospital.
A statement released on behalf of his family read: "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." And Stokes paid tribute to Thorpe at the coin toss, wearing an England shirt with Thorpe's name and cap number (564) instead of the traditional blazer.
"Everyone is aware that Graham Thorpe is unfortunately very unwell in hospital at the moment," Stokes told Sky Sports. "I've spoken with his wife, Amanda, and she has been very grateful and thankful for the respect and privacy that her family has received.
"Wearing this shirt is just me, on behalf of the England cricket team, showing support to him at this tough time because we all love Thorpey and he means a hell of a lot to us."
Thorpe scored 6744 Test runs for England, including 16 centuries, at an average of 44.66 and also played 82 ODIs. The 52-year-old spent his entire career at Surrey, making his debut for the county in 1988 before retiring 17 years later in 2005.
Following his retirement, Thorpe began his coaching career with New South Wales, working with Steve Smith and David Warner. However, he soon returned to England to join up with the national team as batting coach, before getting promoted to assistant coach under Trevor Bayliss.
Thorpe is widely regarded as one of the best England batters of his era and was awarded an MBE in 2006 for services to cricket.
