An inquest has heard COVID played a part in the tragic death of much-loved cricket great Graham Thorpe.

Thorpe died in 2024 after he suffered “traumatic injuries” during an incident at a railway station in southeast England.

His wife, Amanda Thorpe, revealed previously her husband, 55, had committed suicide, but now she has shed more light on his personal struggles leading up to that devastating moment.

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“The weeks leading up to his death, he told me he doesn’t want to be here any more,” Amanda Thorpe told the inquest.

“He asked me to help him end his life.

“He said he wants to go to Switzerland. I was in turmoil.”

Amanda said her husband had seriously struggled during COVID lockdowns, finding them “very difficult” and “stressful”.

And Thorpe’s father, Geoff Thorpe, had no doubt COVID contributed to his son’s death.

“Everything was fine until COVID,” Thorpe said.

“(He was) not a fella who likes to be cooped up.

“What you’ve got to realise is, sometimes us chaps are a little bit macho ... we (say) can cope (but) in fact we can’t.”

Graham Thorpe’s life also came “crashing down” after he was sacked by the English Cricket Board in 2022.

Thorpe lost his job after England players were captured on video having a drinking session after the fifth Test in Tasmania.

The drinking session — which was interrupted by police — followed England’s Ashes nightmare where they lost the 2021-22 series 4-0 (and lost the Bellerive Oval Test by 146 runs).

After the decision was made to sack Thorpe, he tried to kill himself and ended up in hospital for eight weeks.

Amanda Thorpe said: “He never really recovered from (his first suicide) attempt.

“He came back from the tour of Australia in a terrible state – lots of things, the video, the environment, the set-up.

“To be sacked after that I think it was foreseeable that it would be really hard on him.”

She said on the day her husband died, she thought he had gone out to walk the dog, but soon realised the dog was at home.

Thorpe’s father later called her and uttered two chilling word. “He’s gone,” Geoff Thorpe said across the line.

In an interview with The Times in 2024, Amanda spoke about her husband’s suicide.

“Despite having a wife and two daughters whom he loved and who loved him, he did not get better. He was so unwell in recent times and he really did believe that we would be better off without him and we are devastated that he acted on that and took his own life,” she said.

“For the past couple of years, Graham had been suffering from major depression and anxiety. This led him to make a serious attempt on his life in May 2022, which resulted in a prolonged stay in an intensive care unit.

“Despite glimpses of hope and of the old Graham, he continued to suffer from depression and anxiety, which at times got very severe. We supported him as a family and he tried many, many treatments but unfortunately none of them really seemed to work.

“Graham was renowned as someone who was very mentally strong on the field and he was in good physical health. But mental illness is a real disease and can affect anyone.”

Eldest daughter Kitty said the family were not ashamed of talking about it and hopes to raise awareness by sharing the cause of death now.

“There is nothing to hide and it is not a stigma. We were trying to help him get better before and trying to protect him, which is why we said nothing. This is the time now to share the news, however horrible it is. We’ve wanted to be able to talk and share and we’d now like to raise awareness, too,” she said.

“He had loved life and he loved us but he just couldn’t see a way out. It was heartbreaking to see how withdrawn he had become. He was not the same person. It was strange to see this person trapped in the body of dad.”

Thorpe made his international debut in 1993 and scored a century on his first Ashes appearance, becoming the first England player to do so in 20 years.

He was an England regular, scoring 16 Test centuries and featuring 82 times for the ODI side.

His final Test appearance came in June 2005 before he was omitted from that summer’s victorious Ashes series and called time on his international career.

Thorpe stayed in the game after his retirement from playing, moving to New South Wales where he worked with a young Steve Smith and David Warner.

He returned to work with England between 2010 and 2022. Thorpe took charge of his country in the familiar surroundings of the Sydney Cricket Ground after Chris Silverwood was laid low by coronavirus, securing a nailbiting draw to avoid a seemingly inevitable Ashes whitewash.

The inquest is ongoing.

If you need help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For further information about depression contact beyondblue on 1300224636 or talk to your GP, local health professional or someone you trust.