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debut in 1973 for
Northamptonshire and then he had limited success. But in 1974, he had a second season of high achievement: 1,936 runs at an average of almost 57 runs per innings meant that he was fifth in the national averages. Again, he was talked of as a potential England player; but again he was
444:
But then, suddenly, in 1970, Virgin's batting moved into a different league. Revealing a wider range of shots than before, he scored fast and prolifically, with 2,223 runs at an average of 47 in the season, including seven centuries. He was talked of as a possible
468:
Virgin was appointed captain of
Northamptonshire in 1975, but resigned in August, saying that the captaincy was affecting his batting. He barely made his 1,000 runs that season, but recovered to average 34 in the 1976 season. Batting with
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he scored 145 in a fourth wicket stand of 370 against
Somerset at Northampton, which remains the county record for a fourth wicket partnership. But after a less successful season in 1977 he retired to take up a business appointment.
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in first-class matches, and he continued to do so occasionally in one-day matches throughout his career. More often, he was a reliable catcher in the slips and his 42 catches for
Somerset in 1966 remains the county record.
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Virgin played first for
Somerset in 1957 and was a regular as an opening batsman in 1960, when he scored 1,453 runs at a respectable average of 25 runs per innings. He reappeared in 1963 after
430:, except for two individual seasons, one for each of his two counties, during which he looked as good as any opening batsman in county cricket and was mentioned as a possible
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and was a regular in the
Somerset side for the rest of the 1960s, usually scoring his 1,000 runs a season, but only once averaging more than 30 runs an innings.
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457:. The 1971 season was another successful year for Virgin, but in 1972 his runmaking fell away badly, and he left Somerset at the end of the season.
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The parting was not amicable. Virgin had to wait half a season before he could make his
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A right-handed opening batsman, Virgin had a mostly solid but unspectacular career in
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Fast forward to 2024, Roy has 4 grand-children and 3 great-grandchildren.
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Virgin married
Margaret Ann Thresher in 1960 and had three children.
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28 August 1977 Northamptonshire v Worcestershire
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477:Early in his career, Virgin occasionally acted as
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21:
411:(born 26 August 1939) is a former English
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421:Northamptonshire County Cricket Clubs
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551:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
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526:Northamptonshire cricket captains
190:22 May 1963 Somerset v
162:29 May 1957 Somerset v
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536:Wisden Cricketers of the Year
556:T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers
531:Combined Services cricketers
451:Wisden Cricketer of the Year
546:Western Province cricketers
521:Northamptonshire cricketers
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449:opener and was named as a
105:Domestic team information
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541:Cricketers from Taunton
453:in the 1971 edition of
337:5 wickets in innings
29:Personal information
516:Somerset cricketers
462:County Championship
428:first-class cricket
349:10 wickets in match
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511:English cricketers
409:Roy Thomas Virgin
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209:Career statistics
38:Roy Thomas Virgin
16:English cricketer
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54:26 August 1939
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56:(age 85)
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471:Peter Willey
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455:the almanack
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360:Best bowling
76:Right-handed
18:
501:1939 births
244:Runs scored
222:First-class
218:Competition
495:Categories
50:1939-08-26
23:Roy Virgin
413:cricketer
373:stumpings
279:Top score
192:Glamorgan
141:1973–1977
119:1957–1972
67:, England
434:player.
417:Somerset
394:Source:
371:Catches/
268:100s/50s
124:Somerset
85:Legbreak
65:Somerset
447:England
311:Wickets
233:Matches
130:1972/73
95:Batsman
81:Bowling
73:Batting
61:Taunton
299:bowled
247:21,930
227:List A
377:415/0
328:85.00
297:Balls
271:37/99
263:24.54
260:29.87
250:3,755
198:Last
187:debut
178:Essex
170:Last
159:debut
110:Years
432:Test
419:and
380:67/0
331:5.00
274:4/22
113:Team
91:Role
44:Born
366:1/1
363:1/6
302:426
288:123
282:179
239:170
236:437
497::
423:.
398:,
200:LA
185:LA
172:FC
157:FC
63:,
52:)
355:0
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344:0
341:0
318:1
315:4
305:8
290:*
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48:(
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