GRAHAM THORPE’S father has revealed his family are devastated after the former cricketer’s passing.

The ex-England star has died aged 55 two years after falling seriously ill.

The wider cricket community including England captain Ben Stokes have paid tribute to Thorpe, who played 100 Tests for his country.

His father Geoffrey has spoken about his son’s death, revealing the family are “devastated”.

He told the Daily Mail: “This is an extremely sad day for our family. We are all devastated.”

Thorpe is survived by his second wife Amanda and four children, Henry, Amelia, Kitty and Emma. He separated from first wife Nicola in 2002.

Geoffrey did not comment on his son’s cause of death but Thorpe was admitted to hospital two years ago with a mystery illness.

A statement at the time from the Professional Cricketers’ Association, on his behalf of his family, confirmed Thorpe was “seriously ill and in receiving treatment”.

It continued: “His prognosis is unclear at this stage… our thoughts are with Graham and his family.”

Just days later, Stokes wore a shirt in support of Thorpe as he took to the field at Lords for a Test match against New Zealand.

Instead of his usual name and number the back of Stokes’ shirt read: ‘Thorpe 564’, in honour of the batsman’s Test cap number.

After Thorpe’s death Stokes shared an image of himself wearing the shirt along with the caption: “














”

Ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan also paid tribute to his former team-mate, writing: “RIP Thorpey. Thanks for all the advice throughout my career, you were a great player and a brilliant team-mate.

“You have gone far too young but you leave as an England cricket legend… Thoughts with all who knew Thorpey and to all the family xxx.”