NED - A SPECIAL TALENT

With the passing of Wayne Larkins the game has lost a man of unique gifts and a total joie de vivre

I was truly devastated to hear of the sudden death of Wayne Larkins at the weekend, aged 71. Larkins – Ned as he was known to everyone - was a batsman of rare gifts and individualism. He took on the world’s greatest bowlers – the faster the better – and frequently won, in a blaze of astonishing strokes, only to then be defeated by some anonymous dobber. He’d walk back to the dressing room, shrugging his shoulders, concealing an inner fury that he didn’t have the tunnel vision focus that a batsman needs to make the most of his talent, but happy that again he had tamed one of the game’s great tormentors.

He was intimidating to bowl at as he could take you apart with a languid pick up over square leg, a devastating pull and a lavish drive through or over extra cover, but you had to admire the panache. He was the best timer of a cricket ball I have ever seen – on a par with Jos Buttler or AB de Villiers - and a hugely reassuring presence in the dressing room because of his nonchalant dominance of the best fast bowlers in the world. They knew they had been ‘Nedded.’

He was a born entertainer and a happy-go-lucky character, always cheery in the dressing room even if himself had got out cheaply. I played with him for two years at Durham and soon noticed that he always arrived in the dressing room with his three essentials, his Stuart Surridge bat, a bottle of shampoo and 20 B&H. Happiness was reclining on the balcony after a scintillating 72, hair freshly washed, fag in hand, to cheer on the other batters.

It was a privilege to play with him and we would marvel at his strokeplay, and sit back and wallow as he sauntered out with his great mate and kindred spirit Ian Botham to open the batting in a one day game. It was pure indulgence watching, and you just felt relieved you weren’t out there bowling. Once out, his encouragement to the others was unstinting and his laugh infectious.

Botham and Larkins walk out to bat in Durham’s first (one day) game as the 18th county.

He was quite elusive post-retirement – rarely attending player reunions, preferring to indulge his love of horse racing – but I did persuade him to be interviewed a couple of years ago in our virtual cricket club. Here’s an extract that I think encapsulates his character and our adoration of an amazing, generational talent that should have been recognised with more than 13 Test appearances. He was truly special.