London, July 21 (IANS) Surrey County Cricket Club (SCCC) will honour former England batter Graham Thorpe during the fifth and final Test of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at The Oval.

“The life of England and Surrey cricketer Graham Thorpe will be remembered and celebrated on Friday, August 1, during the second day of the final men’s Test Match in the series between England v India,” Surrey County Cricket Club (SCCC) said in a statement.

‘A Day for Thorpey’ will be held at the Oval Cricket Ground, London, in support of mental health charity Mind, on what would have been Graham’s 56th birthday. Graham took his own life on August 4 last year, aged 55, after struggling with anxiety and depression for several years.

Graham played first-class cricket for Surrey County Cricket Club and represented England in 100 Test matches. After retiring from playing, he took on various coaching roles within the sport for both Surrey and England.

‘A Day for Thorpey’ will raise money for mental health charity Mind through the sale of a limited-edition headband which resembles what Graham wore when he was batting for England. The headbands have been co-designed with Graham’s wife Amanda and daughters Kitty and Emma,” the statement said.

Money raised from headband sales and donations for ‘A Day for Thorpey’ will support the roll out of “Thorpey’s Bat and Chat”, a project across England and Wales, in partnership with county cricket foundations and the charity’s network of local Minds. Originally developed by Burton and District Mind, Bat and Chat is a 12-week programme combining cricket sessions with guided psychoeducation to support mental health and wellbeing.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Amanda Thorpe said, “That day will be very powerful. We want to celebrate him and his memory. His light was so bright. He’ll go on.”

Kitty Thorpe added, “Death and grief in general isn’t talked about enough, considering it happens to everyone. It surrounds us. When you add the layer of death by suicide, that makes it even more taboo.

“I understand it’s difficult to talk about – people don’t want to say the wrong thing. That doesn’t help tackle the stigma around it. We need to change the way we’re addressing the topic. That’s why we’re working with Mind to do something to help that.”

Emma said, “My dad was quite a private person, so for us to share his experience with his mental health, and our experience of it, it’s important to me that we do that to help other people who have gone through similar things. And to start a conversation there and reducing the shame and the stigma that there is around these conversations.”

–IANS

ab/bc