Roy Torrens facts for kids
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| Full name |
Robert Torrens
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| Born | 17 April 1948 Derry, Northern Ireland |
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| Died | 23 January 2021 (aged 72) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm fast-medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1966–1982 | Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 24 January 2021
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Robert "Roy" Torrens OBE (born May 17, 1948 – died January 23, 2021) was an amazing Irish sportsman. He was a talented cricketer, coach, and manager for the Ireland cricket team. He also played football for the Northern Ireland squad.
Contents
Roy Torrens' Amazing Career
Playing Cricket
Roy was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler. He played his first game for Ireland on July 20, 1966. He played for Ireland 30 times in total. This included six first-class matches between 1966 and 1984.
Roy took 26 wickets in first-class cricket. His best bowling was 7 wickets for only 40 runs against Scotland in 1974. In that game, Ireland bowled out Scotland for just 91 runs! He also scored 177 runs in a club match, which was his highest score ever.
Playing Football
Besides cricket, Roy was also a professional footballer. He played for two teams, Derry City F.C. and Ballymena United F.C., in the Irish League Cup.
In 1971, he even led the Northern Ireland team in a friendly match against Scotland. He played alongside famous players like Martin O'Neill.
Life After Playing
Roy stopped playing cricket in 1984. After that, he became a selector for the Irish Cricket Union from 1995 to 2000. He then became the President of the Irish Cricket Union from 2000 to 2004.
In 2004, Roy became the manager of the Irish men's cricket team. He led them to the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Under his leadership, the Irish team had huge success! They surprised many by beating strong teams like Pakistan, England, and West Indies in the 2007, 2011, and 2015 World Cups.
Ireland also played in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup four times while Roy was manager. These were in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014. He managed the team until 2016. Roy also helped Ireland achieve Test status in 2017, which is a very high level in cricket.
For all his hard work in cricket and football in Northern Ireland, Roy Torrens was given the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award in 2009.
His Passing
Roy Torrens passed away on January 23, 2021, at 72 years old. He died from problems related to COVID-19.
The day after he passed, on January 24, 2021, players from Afghanistan and Ireland held a moment of silence. This was before their second One Day International (ODI) match in Abu Dhabi. It was a way to honor Roy Torrens and his contributions to cricket.
