She said that he had got through a previous bout of depression without it affecting his work but that he found the COVID-19 lockdown “very difficult” and that England’s tour to India had been “tough” for him and that he was already struggling with anxiety and experiencing difficulty sleeping. He sought help from the England & Wales Cricket Board in March 2021 and the decision to take him to Australia, where there was daily COVID-19 testing and even more stringent lockdown restrictions, was questioned. Both Amanda and Thorpe’s father, Geoff, did not think that he should have gone on that tour. It was acknowledged, however, that Thorpe would also have found it hard to stay at home. “Really thinking about it… because he went on that tour, he was dismissed,” said Amanda. “That ultimately was what he couldn’t deal with. He probably had an option to say, ‘I don’t want to go’. [But] there’s a big difference to saying, ‘Do you want to go?’ to ‘We think you ought not to go’. I think that would have made a big difference. I don’t think he realised how ill he was. He wishes he hadn’t gone because of all that happened after.” England lost the series 4-0 and Thorpe was dismissed soon after returning to England. The inquest heard that this came as a “real shock” and was the start of a tragic decline in his mental health.