"I've heard Wasim Akram describe him as the best left-hand batsman that he ever bowled to"- Ricky Ponting pays tribute to England legend Graham Thorpe

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting paid tribute to England's late great Graham Thorpe, who died after battling a serious illness on August 5. Thorpe was among the best Test batters in the 1990s and early 2000s with several game-changing knocks, especially against Australia in the Ashes.

In his illustrious Test career spanning 100 games, the left-hander scored over 6,700 runs at an average of 44.66 with 16 centuries and 39 half-centuries. Thorpe also shone brightly in Tests against the Aussies, averaging almost 46 with three centuries and eight half-centuries in 16 matches.

Speaking to the ICC, Ponting mentioned hearing Pakistan great Wasim Akram refer to Thorpe as the best left-hander he had bowled to.

"I had a bit of interaction with him with my time at Surrey. And obviously thought he (Thorpe) was a Surrey legend, an English legend. I've heard Wasim Akram describe him as the best left-hand batsman that he ever bowled to," said Ponting.

He added:

A lot of his English teammates called him ‘the little genius’ for how good he was. And some of the guys that I work with in the UK now were extremely close with him."

Graham Thorpe also boasted an impressive record in ODIs, scoring 2,380 runs at an average of 37.18 in 82 outings. The southpaw saved his best for the big occasion, evidenced by his impressive average of 54.14 in World Cups.

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"As soon as the news broke, I made sure I got on the phone to those guys straight away" - Ricky Ponting on Graham Thorpe's death

Ricky Ponting mentioned how he immidiately contacted former English teammates of Graham Thorpe like Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton upon hearing the tragic news of his death.

While England were not always consistent in Tests during Thorpe's career, the left-hander played a massive role in their wins. He averaged an incredible 62.62 in England's 38 Test wins with nine centuries and 16 half-centuries.

"Guys like Ian Ward that I work with at Sky played a lot with him at Surrey. Nasser (Hussain) and Athers (Michael Atherton) obviously were extremely close with him as well. As soon as the news broke, I made sure I got on the phone to those guys straight away, because it's only a couple of years ago that it happened with me with Warney (Shane Warne) and Simmo (Andrew Symonds) and those guys," said Ponting.

He concluded:

"It seems like this big world of cricket, but when you lose something like that, the cricket world really shrinks down and everyone looks after each other. It's just another one of those really, really sad days as far as the game of cricket is concerned."

Besides his stellar international career, Graham Thorpe was a legendary figure for Surrey in domestic cricket. He finished with almost 33,000 runs across formats (first-class + List-A + T20) for Surrey with 58 centuries in almost 700 outings.