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Former England and Northamptonshire batter Wayne Larkins passed away after a short illness, aged 71. Larkins, who was popularly known as "Ned" has represented England in 13 Tests and 25 ODIs between 1979 and 1991. His second appearance came in the 1979 World Cup final against the West Indies, where he batted at No. 7 and bowled two overs.
His memorable knock came against West Indies at Sabina Park as England took an unexpected 1-0 lead on the 1989-90 tour of the West Indies. That was Larkins' seventh Test, coming more than eight years after his sixth. He might have played more in between had he not been banned for three years for involvement on the 1982 rebel tour of South Africa.
Larkins played most of his career with Northamptonshire, making more than 700 appearances for the club. He later moved to Durham, before winding down a career that saw him score 40,000 runs and amass 85 hundreds.
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His wife, Debbie, was quoted on the Northamptonshire website: "Ned loved everyone he met and everyone loved him. People were drawn to his infectious energy. He lit up every room and never wanted the party to finish.
"He loved his soul mate of a wife and his precious daughters so much. He will be partying up in the sky, drinking a toast to everyone and to his own life. We are devastated but we'll never forget his undeniably unique presence and his impact on our lives.
"We will carry him in our hearts forever."
Larkins passed 1,000 first-class runs in every season between 1978 and 1985, and his magnificent purple patch in 1983 - hitting 236 against Derbyshire at Derby and 252 off Glamorgan's attack at Swansea in the space of seven weeks - might well have earned a Test recall, had he not been banned at the time for joining the unofficial tour to South Africa in 1982.
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