In the first Test of the three-match series between England and Sri Lanka at Old Trafford, Manchester, players from both teams are wearing black armbands. This gesture has prompted questions about its significance.
The England team, led by Ollie Pope in the absence of regular captain Ben Stokes, who is sidelined due to an injury from The Hundred tournament, is paying tribute to the late Graham Thorpe. Thorpe, who passed away on August 4th, was a distinguished England batsman with 100 ODIs and 82 Test matches to his name between 1993 and 2005.
The black armbands are a mark of respect for Thorpe, who made significant contributions to English cricket. He accumulated 6,744 runs in Test cricket at an average of 44.66, including 16 centuries, and scored 2,380 runs in ODIs at an average of 37.18, with 21 fifties.
England’s regular captain, Ben Stokes, is absent from the series due to his injury, and star player Zak Crawley is also missing due to a finger injury. England has brought in Matthew Potts and Daniel Lawrence as replacements. Sri Lanka has included Milan Priyanath Rathnayake, who is making his debut in this series.
Ollie Pope expressed the team’s sentiment, saying, “We’ll wear our black armbands throughout the game and there will be a tribute to Graham Thorpe before the match. His passing has deeply affected everyone in the team. He was a great man and a wonderful batting coach. His advice to ‘never let the runs you’re scoring define you as a person’ was incredibly meaningful to me. We’ll honour him this week as a tribute to his impact on us and the game.”