England v Sri Lanka: first men’s cricket Test match, day one – live | England v Sri Lanka 2024

WICKET! Sri Lanka 40-4 (Kusal c Root b Wood 24)

15th over: Sri Lanka 40-3 (Kusal 24, Chandimal 10) Almost a run-out chance when Mendis and Chandimal do the mid-pitch dance after Mendis slugged Potts to mid-on. Just a single from a good over from Potts, who needed that after an expensive start: his figures are now 3-0-20-0.

14th over: Sri Lanka 39-3 (Kusal 23, Chandimal 10) Here he is, the Ashington flamethrower. Mark Wood’s first ball is a ferocious 93mph bouncer that sits Dinesh Chandimal down. So much for a loosener, though it may well have loosened Chandimal’s… well never mind.

A thrilling first over also includes a cracking delivery that beats Kusal Mendis and bounces just over the stumps. It’s extraordinary that Mark Wood is getting quicker as he approaches his mid-30s. Imagine what he’ll be like when he’s Darren Stevens’ age!

“As a Surrey fan from the 80s onwards, I saw Graham Thorpe on many occasions with my brother Dave at the Oval, as well as all those famous innings for England,” writes Graham Thorpe. “He was a rock in an eventually great Surrey team, and for a lot of the 90s and early 00s, he was England’s batting line up, coming in so many times with early wickets down and steadying the ship.

“So many have called out those highlights, especially that one-legged pull shot. I was a fan of his walking off/cover drive. So in line with everything, so fluent and compact, and there right from his debut century that made the wider world recognise his talent that we already knew. I’ll just remember him as one of the best, the player we’d all want in the team. He’s desperately missed.”

Drinks: Sri Lanka 37-3

13th over: Sri Lanka 37-3 (Kusal Mendis 22, Chandimal 9) Kusal Mendis continues his Thorpish counter-attack by steering Potts through backward point for four, then carting another to the cover boundary. He’s such a fun batsman to watch.

Sri Lanka are playing well now, and the three batsmen who have been dismissed must be going through the gears of regret and frustration.

12th over: Sri Lanka 29-3 (Kusal Mendis 14, Chandimal 9) Four to Chandimal, flicked efficiently off the pads when Atkinson errs in line.

11th over: Sri Lanka 25-3 (Kusal Mendis 14, Chandimal 5) Matthew Potts replaces Woakes, who bowled an interrogative spell of 5-2-8-After no boundaries in the first 64 balls of the game, Kusal Mendis hits two in two. The first was guided through the slips with soft hands; the second was slapped in the air past backward point. A bit risky but he got away with it.

10th over: Sri Lanka 14-3 (Kusal Mendis 6, Chandimal 2) “It’s hard to know what to say,” says James Brough. “I watched England play Test cricket through the 90’s and my memory is England have always lost a couple early on. Atherton is holding on at one end, whole Thorpe is thumping cover drives and flicking one-legged pulls like Brian Lara at the other end.

“It’s so sad. I’ve been somewhere similar to where he was, sitting on a bench at a station, waiting for a train and planning to just step in front of it. I was lucky. Someone called me and realised something was wrong and kept me talking for long enough for it to pass.

“I wish there was an easy answer to all this, that I could say, ‘I’ve been there – here’s the answer to it.’ All I can say is – talk to people. Find out how they are. Tell them how you are. Offer support. And don’t be afraid to ask for it. However bad things are, ending your own life is the one way to ensure they will never improve.”

Bloody hell, I’m so sorry; I can’t imagine how it must feel to have experienced that. This isn’t the place for such a nuanced discussion and we should probably knock it on the head after this, not least because I have to describe some cricket. But while I agree with everything you say, I also think society has become complacent about mental health, perhaps because of the prevalence of phrases like “it’s okay not to be okay” and the frequency with which the Samaritans number appears at the bottom of the screen.

Equally, as you say, it is so difficult, probably impossible, to find an answer because every case is different and the modern world needs a 28-hour clock not 24 so there’s barely enough time to check in ourselves never mind anyone else. I guess what we really need is funding to enhance our understanding of the social, cultural and scientific factors.

Right, the cricket, and sorry for any imperfections in the above stream of consciousness. (Mine, not James’s.) Please do continue to send in memories and tributes to Thorpe, I’m just uneasy about discussing mental health while also trying to blog because I’ll inevitably say something inadvertently insensitive.

9th over: Sri Lanka 14-3 (Kusal Mendis 6, Chandimal 2) Kusal Mendis drives Woakes nicely through mid-off for three to continue Sri Lanka’s mini-mini-mini-revival. He looks in good touch and full of intent.

“So choked up watching all the tributes to Graham Thorpe and the interview with Nasser this morning,” writes Steven Pye. “A man loved by so many, his death really hit me hard when I heard about it. It made me realise that some of the stuff I worry about really isn’t important. I know I struggle at times with stuff thrown at me in life, but as my wife wisely said recently: ‘Keep talking’.

”I have a lot of memories of Thorpey as a player. His debut century; two knocks in the 80s during the tour of the Caribbean in 94; that stare after being dismissed during the 46 all out; Illingworth dropping him at the start of the English summer in 94 (a joke); a century at Perth; dropping a catch in the same match and angrily kicking it through the covers for a single.

“His partnership with Nasser at Edgbaston in 97; rescuing England alongside Ramps at Bridgetown in 98; his Pakistan/Sri Lanka masterclasses in the winter of 00/01; a double hundred against New Zealand; a comeback century against South Africa at the Oval; his part in our successes in 2003/04.

”My favourite Thorpe innings? Definitely his unbeaten 119 against the West Indies at Bridgetown in 04. England 119/6 and over a hundred behind the home team but if one man could save the day it was our little genius. Thorpey dragged us up to a lead of two runs and the whole Test changed. Typical Thorpey, a man for a crisis who will be sorely missed.”

It probably wasn’t in his top 20 innings but I like Thorpe’s deliberately rapid 46 in a low-scoring bar-room brawl at Kandy in 2000-01. England were chasing 161 and Thorpe calculated that he had to go after Murali, even on a turning pitch, before Murali got into a groove. He took 20 off Murali’s first two overs, and though Murali got him a few overs later, Thorpe’s 46 broke the back of the runchase. For the rest of the innings Murali bowled 25 overs for 30. Without those 20 runs, I suspect England would have lost the match and the series.

8th over: Sri Lanka 8-3 (Kusal Mendis 2, Chandimal 0) Kusal Mendis scrunches Atkinson through the covers for a couple. He won’t faff around here; he understands Ricky Ponting’s line that, the better the bowling, the more you need to put pressure back on the opposition.

7th over: Sri Lanka 6-3 (Kusal Mendis 0, Chandimal 0) A double-wicket maiden from Woakes, whose figures are a football hipster’s dream: 4-2-2-2.

Gone! Three reds so Sri Lanka lose Angelo Mathews and a review.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 6-3 (Mathews LBW b Woakes 0)

WICKET! Sri Lanka 6-2 (Madushka c Root b Woakes 4)

6th over: Sri Lanka 6-1 (Madushka 4, Kusal Mendis 0) Kusal Mendis, a very dangerous player who England would love to get rid of early doors, is beaten by a beautiful delivery from Atkinson. This has been very good from England so far: intense, focussed and relentlessly accurate.

“Really emotional seeing the tributes to Graham Thorpe,” writes Bharat C. “He could switch gears with ease, sometimes within an innings as Gary Naylor said recently in the 80s and 90s Cricket podcast.”

WICKET! Sri Lanka 6-1 (Karunartne c Smith b Atkinson 2)

5th over: Sri Lanka 5-0 (Madushka 3, Karunaratne 2) England are getting closer. Karunartne, trying to flick to leg, edges Woakes just short of Smith. It was a cracking delivery, much fuller and moving away off the seam.

As if to prove that bowling such jaffas isn’t easy, the next delivery barely lands on the cut strip.

“Good afternoon Rob,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “The 80s and 90s self in me has been woken up by seeing Mendis and Jayasuriya in the Lankan team.”

Ah Duleep Mendis, the man who hooked Beefy for three sixes in seven balls at Lord’s in 1984. Imagine the face on Lord Beef as the third one went whistling into the cheap seats.

4rd over: Sri Lanka 4-0 (Madushka 2, Karunaratne 2) Madushka is beaten by a serious delivery from Atkinson that pitches on middle and zips past the edge. Karunaratne then leans into a fuller ball, cautiously driving a couple to get off the mark.

Sri Lanka want to be here for a long time; any good times can come later when they’ve seen off the new ball.

3rd over: Sri Lanka 1-0 (Madushka 1, Karunaratne 0) Madushka gets the first run of the match, pushing Woakes into the covers. England have started well and are making Sri Lanka play as much as possible.

2nd over: Sri Lanka 0-0 (Madushka 0, Karunaratne 0) Gus Atkinson opens the bowling, the correct decision despite the inclusion of Matthew Potts. England want him to get as much new-ball experience as possible before you know what.

Atkinson also starts with a maiden. His line was excellent, very tight to the left-hander, but Karunaratne left well.

1st over: Sri Lanka 0-0 (Madushka 0, Karunaratne 0) Woakes starts with a maiden to Madushka, including a beauty that shapes past the outside edge. There’s a bit of swing but nothing too dramatic.

Cricket goes on – always has, always will – and Chris Woakes is about to bowl to Nishal Madushka.

This is very good from Stuart Broad

“Thorpe was my absolute favourite, Nasser’s interview was a bit of a gut punch,” says Felix Wood. “Now, a cloudy morning at Old Trafford? I can think of one recently retired bowler who may have fancied these conditions. Listening to his interviews he clearly thinks so too, and isn’t thrilled about not being able to take advantage.”

Has Darren Stevens been on the radio?

Now there’s a minute’s applause from both players, with Joe Root looking especially emotional. Just as Keith Fletcher fast-tracked Thorpe into the England set-up and told anyone who’d listen how good he was, so Thorpe did the same for Root.

The players are lining up to watch this tribute to Graham Thorpe. Good luck keeping your eyes bone dry for the next 114 seconds.

“As a 90s kid I always remember Thorpe as a swashbuckling strokeplayer,” writes Matt Storey. “That one-legged pull shot and thrilling cut shots. His hundred at Edgbaston 1997 when we were all tricked into thinking we might actually win the Ashes! He changed over time to be a gritty, no nonsense player protecting his wicket but that was a regeneration of his original game. I like to remember early Thorpe the shot maker. Though any version was amazing.”

That’s my favourite version too, even though he became a more complete player under Duncan Fletcher. Those counter-attacks, which stemmed from watching Brian Lara in 1993-94, were both exhilarating and impactful. Pick an England win against the big three in the 1990s and there’s every chance the match will have been turned by a Thorpe counter-attack. Even at Edgbaston in 1997, Nasser Hussain rightly stole the show with his 207, but it was Thorpe who started it at a time when England were wobbling.

Ben Stokes is chatting to Sky Sports

Feeling good, a lot better than I did when I did it. I went down like a sack of potatoes! It’s good to be back in the gym.

[On his role in this Test] The hardest thing for me is to fill my time and not get bored. I think Marcus Trescothick’s in for a long week with me around!

[On Graham Thorpe] He was the batting coach on my first Lions tour. I was so excited to say I was going to work with Graham Thorpe over the winter. Left-handed batter, I had one of those Kookaburra bubble bats as a kid. Later on I got to know him and he was a great man. He was a huge influenced on my career and I enjoyed every moment I spent with him. He was so good in the dressing-room, he always made people laugh and smile.

Sri Lanka win the toss and bat

The teams

Ollie Pope will captain England in this series but Ben Stokes will be there in spirit (and in the dressing room).

“Talking of Graham Thorpe’s little acts of kindness, did you see Alison Kervin describing how he offered to look after her kid whilst he interviewed Mark Butcher?” writes Andy Banks. “A tiny, lovely little story. I was so sad to hear he had gone.”

Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton are paying tribute to Graham Thorpe on Sky Sports. Nasser was choking up from almost the first word. “He was always there for me in my darkest moments, and that’s what I’m saddest about now: I wasn’t there for him in his darkest moment.”

You can always rely on Nasser for bracing honesty. We need to talk about this stuff so much more – not just somebody taking their own life but also the wider social context. That’s the only way things we’ll start to understand this vile illness.

England will wear black armbands in memory of Graham Thorpe, whose death has haunted cricket for the last two and a half weeks. I adored him; you probably did too. As a cricketer he was completely alien, a chameleon who analysed batting forensically and earned the respect of every single bowler in international cricket. As a human being he was totally relatable – flawed, like you and me and everyone we know, but with stratospheric levels of empathy.

Alec Stewart once said that “Thorpey will decide whether he’ll get to know you or not.” It’s a great line, testament to Thorpe’s shyness and especially his bullshit intolerance, but those who did know him speak with rare fondness. It’s hard to recall, certainly for a sportsperson, a series of tributes as raw and emotive as those on Sky a couple of weeks ago.

It wasn’t all sadness. Mike Atherton stressed how much fun they all had, and Thorpe sounds like the kind of drily funny, self-deprecating character we all love to be around. You can imagine his pithy one-liners as he walked out yet again to clean up the mess at 20 for 2. If only there was a record of his internal monologue as he walked off in Trinidad in March 1994, staring at a fixed point precisely a thousand yards in the distance after being bowled by a Ambrose shooter to leave England 40 for 8 at the close.

There are some actors – Kristen Stewart and James Gandolfini come to mind – who can reveal a complex character with just their eyes. Thorpe’s were equally expressive, particularly when he was cleaned up by Ambrose that night. But there were also times when they betrayed a melancholy that was never dormant for long enough.

A recurring theme of the stories about Thorpe are little acts of human kindness towards teammates, always done in private and with no motive beyond compassion and generosity of spirit.

Rob Key tells one in his book. On the South Africa tour of 2004-05, Thorpe went out for dinner with Key, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison. Key was down because of the death of his grandmother, which was mentioned briefly at the dinner table. When they got back to the hotel, Thorpe knocked on Key’s door with a four-pack and asked him if he wanted to chat. They spent the next hour or two talking about Key’s gran, the mental side of batting at Test level, everything and nothing. As a kid Key idolised Thorpe, so you can imagine what that meant to him.

I didn’t know Thorpe but interviewed him two or three times, once a long chat in person before the 2005 Ashes, which we thought would be his swansong. At the end he said something like “Thanks Rob, that was a really good interview.”

Whether he meant it, who cares; the fact it has stuck with me tells a story. (And not only because it’s probably the only time my ramshackle interviewing style has been praised.)

The thought of the pain he was in, and of his internal monologue on that Sunday morning, is almost unbearable.

RIP Thorpey. Cricket adores you.

Read Ali Martin’s interview

Preamble