Wayne Larkins

Wayne Larkins

Personal information
Full name	Wayne Larkins
Born	(1953-11-22) 22 November 1953 Roxton, Bedfordshire, England
Nickname	Ned
Height
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm medium
Role	Batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2001	Huntingdonshire
1997	Minor Counties
1996–2000	Bedfordshire
1992–1995	Durham
1982/83–1983/84	Eastern Province
1978–1989	Marylebone Cricket Club
1972–1991	Northamptonshire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 13 25 482 485 Runs scored 493 591 27142 13594 Batting average 20.54 24.62 34.44 30.75 100s/50s –/3 1/– 59/116 26/66 Top score 64 124 252 172* Balls bowled – 15 3517 3202 Wickets – – 42 77 Bowling average – – 45.59 31.62 5 wickets in innings – – 1 1 10 wickets in match – – – – Best bowling – – 5/59 5/32 Catches/stumpings 8/– 8/– 306/– 160/–
Source: Cricinfo, 11 July 2009

Wayne Larkins (born 22 November 1953, Roxton, Bedfordshire, England) is a former English cricketer, who represented Northamptonshire, Durham and Bedfordshire as an opening batsman throughout his career. He was selected to play for England as Graham Gooch's opening partner on tours of Australia and the West Indies.

The cricket correspondent, Colin Bateman, opined, "Larkins was usually ignored when he should have been selected and selected when he should have been ignored in a career of unfulfilled potential. A destructive opening bat who could demolish any attack if he got going, 'Ned' tired of waiting for England and joined the 1982 rebel tour to South Africa".

Career

Larkins played cricket for Northamptonshire from 1972 until 1991. He moved to first-class newcomers Durham in 1992, retiring from the first-class game in 1995. He scored 27,142 first class runs in 482 matches, with 59 centuries and a highest score of 252. He also snared 42 wickets with his medium pace. Larkins appeared in thirteen Test matches for England, scoring three fifties, and in twenty five ODIs. He was a strong force in domestic one-day cricket, playing 485 matches and scoring 13,594 runs with 26 hundreds.

Although a talented player, Larkins is considered as something of an underachiever at the top level. County bowlers such as Jonathan Agnew spoke of being "Nedded" when he performed well against them.

Outside cricket, he was a keen footballer. In his youth, he had been on the books of Notts County. He also played non-league football for Wolverton Town and Buckingham Town, although he missed part of the 1985 season after gashing his leg during a match.

Mortgage controversy

In October 2006, Larkins pleaded guilty to attempting to illegally obtain a mortgage secured against the house of his girlfriend's sick father. With his girlfriend Deborah Lines, he bought a home in France. On 20 April 2007, he was given a 12-month suspended sentence, and was ordered to repay money from the sale of the property.