Sydney Barnes
Encyclopedia
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer
who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history. He was right-handed and bowled at a pace that varied from medium to fast-medium with the ability to make the ball both swing
and break from off
or leg
.
Barnes was unusual in that, despite a very long playing career, he spent little more than two seasons in first-class cricket
, preferring instead to play league cricket and represent his native county club Staffordshire
in the Minor Counties Championship. He took 1,432 wickets for Staffordshire at less than 9 runs each and played for the county until he was 61. In Test cricket
, Barnes played for England on 27 occasions from 1901 to 1914, taking 189 wickets at an average of 16.43 runs each. He is ranked first in the ICC
Best-Ever Test Championship Rating for bowlers. In 1911–12, Barnes enabled England to win The Ashes
when he took 34 wickets in the series against Australia. In 1913–14, playing his final Test series, he took a world record 49 wickets against South Africa.
In 1963, Barnes was named by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
in its hundredth edition as one of its "Six Giants of the Wisden Century
" and, in 2009, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
.
, Staffordshire
. He was the second son of five children whose father, Richard, lived nearly all of his life in Staffordshire, working for 63 years at the Muntz Metal Company which was based at Selly Oak
in Birmingham
. His father did not play much cricket and Barnes was the only one of three brothers who ever "touched a bat or ball".
The beginning of Barnes' career dates to 1888 when he was fifteen and he began playing for a small club which had a ground behind the Galton Hotel in Smethwick. Soon afterwards, Barnes joined the town club, Smethwick Cricket Club, and began playing for its third team. In due course, he was selected for the second team and had earned a place in the first team, playing in the Birmingham and District Premier League
, at the start of the 1893 season
.
In 1894, when Barnes was a 21-year-old fast bowler, he was asked to join the ground staff of Staffordshire County Cricket Club
but he found the terms unattractive. Instead, he joined Rishton Cricket Club
in the Lancashire League where the pay was better than in any form of county cricket
, largely because of match bonuses and collections. Wilfrid S. White commented that Barnes' career in league cricket "stands out unparalleled, unapproached, by any other player".
Later in the 1894 season, Barnes was invited to play for Warwickshire
, who were due to enter the County Championship
in 1895. His debut was in a minor match against Cheshire
at Edgbaston
on 20–21 August. The match was drawn and Barnes bowled only 8 overs, taking 0–27. On 23 August, Barnes made his first-class
debut for Warwickshire against Gloucestershire
at Clifton College Close Ground
, except that he did not take the field as play was restricted by bad weather to just 72 overs of his team's first innings, in which they reached 102–2.
Barnes' association with Lancashire
began in 1899 when he played for the club's Second XI against Staffordshire in a match at the County Ground, Stoke-on-Trent
on 10 and 11 July. He took 10 wickets in the match including a match-winning analysis of 8–38 in the second innings. In August, Barnes made his first-team debut for Lancashire and played in two County Championship matches against Sussex
and Surrey
but he had only moderate success with a best return of 3–99 against Surrey.
In 1900, Barnes left Rishton and joined Burnley Cricket Club
. He did not represent Lancashire that season and reappeared in 1901 when he made two Second XI appearances against Yorkshire
's Second XI and one County Championship match in late August against Leicestershire
at Old Trafford. This was a rain-interrupted draw but Barnes took 6–70 in the Leicestershire first innings, reducing them to an all-out 140 in response to Lancashire's total of 328–8 declared.
Lancashire's captain was Archie MacLaren who was about to form an England team to tour Australia and, despite Barnes' limited first-class career to this point, he was included in the squad. This came about because Lord Hawke
refused to allow George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes
to travel but MacLaren had become, to quote White, "the first to see in Barnes a bowler of international calibre". Barnes' selection was a major surprise and considered to be "the most daring experiment in the history of the game".
Following a successful tour, Barnes became a first team regular at Lancashire through the 1902 and 1903 seasons, producing several successful performances. But, after a dispute about winter employment in 1903, during which season he was "much over-bowled", he quit Lancashire and took no further part in first-class county cricket. He returned to the Lancashire League, playing also for Staffordshire in the Minor Counties Championship.
Barnes played in 22 first-class matches in 1902, taking 95 wickets at an average of 21.56 with a best analysis of 6–39 and one match in which he took 10 wickets. He is listed well down the national averages and his overall performance bears moderate comparison with that of, for example, Wilfred Rhodes who took 213 wickets at 13.15 with 5 ten-wicket matches. In 1903, Barnes made 24 appearances and took 131 wickets at 17.85. He was ninth of those bowlers who took 100 wickets; his best analysis was 8–37 and he had 3 ten-wicket matches. His total of 131 in 1903 was the only time Barnes took 100 wickets in an English first-class season, although he did capture 104 wickets in South Africa in 1913–14.
Barnes did not play first-class cricket again for over four years until he joined an occasional team playing against the South African tourists in September 1907. He toured Australia the following winter and the bulk of his Test career was played from then till 1914. Barnes made several appearances for the Players in the prestigious Gentlemen v Players
series during this period, culminating in the July 1914 match.
Barnes was not selected by either England or the Players after the First World War and did not play first-class cricket again until 1927 when he was 54 years old. From then until 1930, he made 9 appearances for Wales.
Barnes took 49 wickets for Wales in 1928, including 7–51 and 5–67 in an 8-wicket win over the touring West Indians. He also made two first-class appearances for the Minor Counties in 1929 and took 8–41 in a drawn game against the South Africans at Stoke-on-Trent. Barnes' final first-class appearance was for Wales against MCC
at Lord's
in 1930.
. Also making their debuts in this Test were Colin Blythe
and Len Braund
. Between them, the three debutant bowlers took all 20 Australian wickets as England won by an innings and 124 runs. Australia levelled the series in the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground
, winning by 229 runs although Barnes had figures of 6–42 and 7–121. Monty Noble
trumped Barnes' effort with 7–17 and 6–60. Barnes injured a knee in the third Test at Adelaide Oval
and missed the remainder of the tour. Although he later said he was still far short of his best at the time, he had established himself as a world-class bowler.
Barnes was selected only once in England's home series against Australia in 1902. This was for the third Test at Bramall Lane
, which Australia won by 143 runs, Barnes took 6–49 and 1–50, but Noble with 11 wickets was again Australia's matchwinner.
Barnes returned to Test cricket when England toured Australia in 1907–08. This time, he played in all five Tests and took 24 wickets at 26.08 with best figures of 7–60. In the second Test, which England won by 1 wicket, it was Barnes' batting that was crucial as he shared stands of 34 for the ninth wicket with Joe Humphries
and an unbeaten 39 for the last with Arthur Fielder
. When the tourists played Western Australia, Barnes shared a stand with George Gunn
of over 200 for the fifth wicket while scoring 93, his personal best in first-class cricket.
In the 1909 season, Barnes played in the last three of England's five Tests against Australia. In the third Test at Headingley
, he took 6–63 in Australia's 2nd innings but England lost by 126 runs. The fourth Test at Old Trafford was drawn, Barnes taking 5–56 in the 1st innings. In the final Test at The Oval
, Barnes took two wickets in each innings of another drawn match.
Barnes joined the MCC
tour of Australia in 1911–12 and played in all five Tests. In the second Test at Melbourne, he bowled what some believe to be the greatest-ever spell in a Test Match, despite suffering a fever that kept him off the field during the twenty minutes before lunch. In the first Test at Sydney (which England lost), captain Johnny Douglas
shared the new ball with left-arm seamer Frank Foster. Barnes, disgusted at being made a change bowler, sulked and gave a performance that was well below par. At Melbourne, however, Douglas bowed to the pressure and surrendered the new ball to the Staffordshire bowler, who responded with a spell of five wickets for six runs, demolishing the Australian top order in 10.1 overs. "I told you so," he said to Douglas after one of his breakthroughs. His five scalps were Warren Bardsley
, Charles Kelleway
, Clem Hill
, Warwick Armstrong
and Roy Minnett
, leaving the home side floundering on 38 for six.
In the 1912 Triangular Tournament
, Barnes played in all six of England's Tests, three each against Australia and South Africa.
In 1913–14, Barnes toured South Africa with MCC and played in the first four Tests of a five match series. He missed the last Test because of a financial disagreement. Barnes's 49 wickets this series remains the world record for wickets taken in a Test series. In the second Test at the Old Wanderers
ground in Johannesburg
, he became the first bowler to take more than 15 wickets in a Test with figures of 8–56 and 9–103 resulting in a match analysis of 17–159. Only Jim Laker
's match analysis of 19–90 in 1956 has since surpassed this feat.
Barnes took 189 Test wickets. His average of 16.43 and strike rate
of 41.65 are the lowest amongst bowlers who have played in more than 25 Tests and taken more than 150 wickets. His closest challenger is Alan Davidson
, who took 186 wickets at 20.53. His figures are the second lowest (after the 10.75 and 34.11 respectively of George Lohmann
) among bowlers who have taken 75 Test wickets or more.
.
In league cricket, Barnes played in the Lancashire League with the Rishton, Burnley
and Church clubs from 1895 to 1914 and for Rawtenstall
from 1931 to 1933. He was with Porthill in the North Staffordshire League
from 1906 to 1914. From 1924 to 1930, he played for Castleton Moor and Rochdale in the Central Lancashire League. In addition to his spell with Saltaire in the Bradford League, he played for Keighley in 1934, which was his final season in league cricket.
His record for Staffordshire was 1,441 wickets at a cost of 8.15 runs per wicket.
He played as the professional for Saltaire from 1915 until 1923, taking 803 wickets at an average of just over 5. He took a hundred wickets in a season three times, a feat that has only been achieved on two other occasions in the Bradford League's history. He returned to the league for Keighley in 1934 when he was 61.
Barnes played minor county and league cricket well into his sixties and died aged 94 on 26 December 1967 at Chadsmoor, Staffordshire.
. Barnes considered himself essentially a spin bowleras he bowled both the off-break and the leg-break. Although technically formidable, Barnes allied his skillset to a hostile persona and great stamina which, Arlott says, "were reflected in constant, unrelenting probing for a batsman's weakness and then attacking it by surprise, each ball fitting into a tactical pattern".
Harry Altham
wrote of his bowling: "At appreciably more than medium pace he could, even in the finest weather and on the truest wickets in Australia, both swing and break the ball from off or leg. Most deadly of all was the ball which he would deliver from rather wide on the crease, move in with a late swerve the width of the wicket, and then straighten back off the ground to hit the off stump".
Bernard Hollowood
played alongside Barnes for Staffordshire in the 1930s and quoted his father, Albert Hollowood, who had been Barnes' Staffordshire captain before the First World War, as saying: "Oh, yes, he could bowl 'em all, but he got his wickets with fast leg-breaks. Marvellous, absolutely marvellous, he was. Fast leg-breaks and always on a length".
Bernard Hollowood drew two cartoons of Barnes, which appear in his book Cricket on the Brain. One depicts him leaping in the air as he appeals for a dismissal and with his index finger raised as though he himself is adjudicating on the appeal. It is entitled 'A.N. Other lbw Barnes.... 0'. John Arlott
wrote in his review of the book for the 1971 Wisden: ...his two caricatures of S.F. Barnes would seem transcendent if they were not outweighed by his chapter on that great bowler which is a fine passage of cricket literature... this is a book of many and well-cut facets.
Writing in the May 1963 edition of The Cricketer
, John Arlott
published a tribute to Barnes which commemorated his 90th birthday. Arlott wrote that of those who played with or against Barnes, "(they) had no doubt that he stood alone – the greatest bowler that ever lived".
In the 1963 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
, Barnes was selected by Neville Cardus
as one the Six Giants of the Wisden Century
. This was a special commemorative selection requested by Wisden for its 100th edition. The other five players chosen were:
As S.C. Griffith, the former MCC secretary, wrote in a tribute to Barnes in the Wisden for 1968: "The extraordinary thing about him was that all his contemporaries considered him the greatest bowler. There was never any doubts in their minds. This must have been unique."
Richie Benaud
selected him in his all time cricket XI
.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history. He was right-handed and bowled at a pace that varied from medium to fast-medium with the ability to make the ball both swing
Swing bowling
Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling.-Physics of swing bowling:...
and break from off
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
or leg
Leg spin
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin from right to left in the cricket pitch, at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left, that...
.
Barnes was unusual in that, despite a very long playing career, he spent little more than two seasons in first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
, preferring instead to play league cricket and represent his native county club Staffordshire
Staffordshire County Cricket Club
Staffordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Staffordshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
in the Minor Counties Championship. He took 1,432 wickets for Staffordshire at less than 9 runs each and played for the county until he was 61. In Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, Barnes played for England on 27 occasions from 1901 to 1914, taking 189 wickets at an average of 16.43 runs each. He is ranked first in the ICC
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
Best-Ever Test Championship Rating for bowlers. In 1911–12, Barnes enabled England to win The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
when he took 34 wickets in the series against Australia. In 1913–14, playing his final Test series, he took a world record 49 wickets against South Africa.
In 1963, Barnes was named by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
in its hundredth edition as one of its "Six Giants of the Wisden Century
Six Giants of the Wisden Century
The "Six Giants of the Wisden Century" are six cricketers who were judged by Sir Neville Cardus in 1963 to have been the most notable players of the previous 100 years...
" and, in 2009, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame "recognises the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". A hall of fame, it was launched by the International Cricket Council on 2 January 2009, in association with the Federation of International Cricketers'...
.
Early matches
Barnes was born on 19 April 1873 at SmethwickSmethwick
Smethwick is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the edge of the city of Birmingham, within the historic boundaries of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire....
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. He was the second son of five children whose father, Richard, lived nearly all of his life in Staffordshire, working for 63 years at the Muntz Metal Company which was based at Selly Oak
Selly Oak
Selly Oak is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The suburb is bordered by Bournbrook and Selly Park to the north-east, Edgbaston and Harborne to the north, Weoley Castle and Weoley Hill to the west, and Bournville to the south...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. His father did not play much cricket and Barnes was the only one of three brothers who ever "touched a bat or ball".
The beginning of Barnes' career dates to 1888 when he was fifteen and he began playing for a small club which had a ground behind the Galton Hotel in Smethwick. Soon afterwards, Barnes joined the town club, Smethwick Cricket Club, and began playing for its third team. In due course, he was selected for the second team and had earned a place in the first team, playing in the Birmingham and District Premier League
Birmingham and District Premier League
The Birmingham and District Cricket League is the oldest club cricket league in the world, formed in 1888. Arguably the strongest club competition in the country, it was also the first ECB Premier League, being designated such in 1998.- Geography :...
, at the start of the 1893 season
1893 English cricket season
The 1893 English cricket season was the first year in which the County Championship was officially won by a team other than Surrey. They finished fifth, while Yorkshire won twelve matches to take the title...
.
In 1894, when Barnes was a 21-year-old fast bowler, he was asked to join the ground staff of Staffordshire County Cricket Club
Staffordshire County Cricket Club
Staffordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Staffordshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
but he found the terms unattractive. Instead, he joined Rishton Cricket Club
Rishton Cricket Club
Rishton Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Lancashire League, which plays its home games at Blackburn Road in Rishton. For the 2011 season their captain is Jimmy Bibby and their professional is Cameron Delport....
in the Lancashire League where the pay was better than in any form of county cricket
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
, largely because of match bonuses and collections. Wilfrid S. White commented that Barnes' career in league cricket "stands out unparalleled, unapproached, by any other player".
Later in the 1894 season, Barnes was invited to play for Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
, who were due to enter the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
in 1895. His debut was in a minor match against Cheshire
Cheshire County Cricket Club
Cheshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Cheshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
on 20–21 August. The match was drawn and Barnes bowled only 8 overs, taking 0–27. On 23 August, Barnes made his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for Warwickshire against Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
at Clifton College Close Ground
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
, except that he did not take the field as play was restricted by bad weather to just 72 overs of his team's first innings, in which they reached 102–2.
First-class cricket
Barnes played for Warwickshire once in August 1894, twice in May 1895 and once in June 1896. That was the extent of his career with Warwickshire as he chose to play mostly for Rishton from 1895 to 1899. He took only 3 wickets for Warwickshire, having bowled 86 overs and conceded 226 runs.Barnes' association with Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
began in 1899 when he played for the club's Second XI against Staffordshire in a match at the County Ground, Stoke-on-Trent
County Ground, Stoke-on-Trent
The County Ground was a cricket ground in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1885, when Staffordshire played Derbyshire in a non first-class match....
on 10 and 11 July. He took 10 wickets in the match including a match-winning analysis of 8–38 in the second innings. In August, Barnes made his first-team debut for Lancashire and played in two County Championship matches against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
and Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
but he had only moderate success with a best return of 3–99 against Surrey.
In 1900, Barnes left Rishton and joined Burnley Cricket Club
Burnley Cricket Club
Burnley Cricket Club, based at Turf Moor in Burnley, Lancashire, is a cricket club in the Lancashire League.The club was a founder member of the Lancashire League in 1892. Its captain for the 2011 season is Steve Brunt and its professional is Imad Wasim...
. He did not represent Lancashire that season and reappeared in 1901 when he made two Second XI appearances against Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
's Second XI and one County Championship match in late August against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
at Old Trafford. This was a rain-interrupted draw but Barnes took 6–70 in the Leicestershire first innings, reducing them to an all-out 140 in response to Lancashire's total of 328–8 declared.
Lancashire's captain was Archie MacLaren who was about to form an England team to tour Australia and, despite Barnes' limited first-class career to this point, he was included in the squad. This came about because Lord Hawke
Martin Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke
Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke of Towton , generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer who played major roles in the sport's administration....
refused to allow George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
to travel but MacLaren had become, to quote White, "the first to see in Barnes a bowler of international calibre". Barnes' selection was a major surprise and considered to be "the most daring experiment in the history of the game".
Following a successful tour, Barnes became a first team regular at Lancashire through the 1902 and 1903 seasons, producing several successful performances. But, after a dispute about winter employment in 1903, during which season he was "much over-bowled", he quit Lancashire and took no further part in first-class county cricket. He returned to the Lancashire League, playing also for Staffordshire in the Minor Counties Championship.
Barnes played in 22 first-class matches in 1902, taking 95 wickets at an average of 21.56 with a best analysis of 6–39 and one match in which he took 10 wickets. He is listed well down the national averages and his overall performance bears moderate comparison with that of, for example, Wilfred Rhodes who took 213 wickets at 13.15 with 5 ten-wicket matches. In 1903, Barnes made 24 appearances and took 131 wickets at 17.85. He was ninth of those bowlers who took 100 wickets; his best analysis was 8–37 and he had 3 ten-wicket matches. His total of 131 in 1903 was the only time Barnes took 100 wickets in an English first-class season, although he did capture 104 wickets in South Africa in 1913–14.
Barnes did not play first-class cricket again for over four years until he joined an occasional team playing against the South African tourists in September 1907. He toured Australia the following winter and the bulk of his Test career was played from then till 1914. Barnes made several appearances for the Players in the prestigious Gentlemen v Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
series during this period, culminating in the July 1914 match.
Barnes was not selected by either England or the Players after the First World War and did not play first-class cricket again until 1927 when he was 54 years old. From then until 1930, he made 9 appearances for Wales.
Barnes took 49 wickets for Wales in 1928, including 7–51 and 5–67 in an 8-wicket win over the touring West Indians. He also made two first-class appearances for the Minor Counties in 1929 and took 8–41 in a drawn game against the South Africans at Stoke-on-Trent. Barnes' final first-class appearance was for Wales against MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
in 1930.
Test cricket
Barnes was selected for his first overseas tour in 1901–02 despite having made only seven first-class appearances in the previous eight English seasons. In Australia, he played against three state teams before making his Test debut on 13 December 1901 at Sydney Cricket GroundSydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
. Also making their debuts in this Test were Colin Blythe
Colin Blythe
Colin Blythe , also known as Charlie Blythe, was a Kent and England left arm spinner who is regarded as one of the finest bowlers of the period between 1900 and 1914 - sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age" of cricket.-Career:Blythe first played...
and Len Braund
Len Braund
Leonard Charles Braund, born October 18, 1875, at Clewer, Berkshire, and died December 23, 1955, Putney Common, London, was a cricketer who played for Surrey, Somerset and England....
. Between them, the three debutant bowlers took all 20 Australian wickets as England won by an innings and 124 runs. Australia levelled the series in the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, winning by 229 runs although Barnes had figures of 6–42 and 7–121. Monty Noble
Monty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
trumped Barnes' effort with 7–17 and 6–60. Barnes injured a knee in the third Test at Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
and missed the remainder of the tour. Although he later said he was still far short of his best at the time, he had established himself as a world-class bowler.
Barnes was selected only once in England's home series against Australia in 1902. This was for the third Test at Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane
-Cricket at the Lane:Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the town's industrial area, and relatively free from smoke. It was built to host the matches of local cricket...
, which Australia won by 143 runs, Barnes took 6–49 and 1–50, but Noble with 11 wickets was again Australia's matchwinner.
Barnes returned to Test cricket when England toured Australia in 1907–08. This time, he played in all five Tests and took 24 wickets at 26.08 with best figures of 7–60. In the second Test, which England won by 1 wicket, it was Barnes' batting that was crucial as he shared stands of 34 for the ninth wicket with Joe Humphries
Joe Humphries
Joseph Humphries was an English cricketer who played three Test matches for England on their tour to Australia in 1907-08 and for Derbyshire County Cricket Club and the Marylebone Cricket Club between 1899 and 1914....
and an unbeaten 39 for the last with Arthur Fielder
Arthur Fielder
Arthur Fielder was the leading fast bowler in English cricket for the decade before World War I and one of the key contributors to Kent's four County Championship successes between 1906 and 1913.In some ways the founder of modern fast bowling, Fielder was the first fast bowler to rely on swing...
. When the tourists played Western Australia, Barnes shared a stand with George Gunn
George Gunn
George Gunn was an English cricketer who played in 15 Tests from 1907 to 1930. Along with other notable batsmen such as Jack Hobbs, Frank Woolley and Phil Mead, he was one of a group who, beginning their first-class careers in the Edwardian Era, seemed to go on for ever...
of over 200 for the fifth wicket while scoring 93, his personal best in first-class cricket.
In the 1909 season, Barnes played in the last three of England's five Tests against Australia. In the third Test at Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
, he took 6–63 in Australia's 2nd innings but England lost by 126 runs. The fourth Test at Old Trafford was drawn, Barnes taking 5–56 in the 1st innings. In the final Test at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
, Barnes took two wickets in each innings of another drawn match.
Barnes joined the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
tour of Australia in 1911–12 and played in all five Tests. In the second Test at Melbourne, he bowled what some believe to be the greatest-ever spell in a Test Match, despite suffering a fever that kept him off the field during the twenty minutes before lunch. In the first Test at Sydney (which England lost), captain Johnny Douglas
Johnny Douglas
John "Johnny" William Henry Tyler Douglas was a cricketer who was captain of the England team and an Olympic boxer.-Early life:...
shared the new ball with left-arm seamer Frank Foster. Barnes, disgusted at being made a change bowler, sulked and gave a performance that was well below par. At Melbourne, however, Douglas bowed to the pressure and surrendered the new ball to the Staffordshire bowler, who responded with a spell of five wickets for six runs, demolishing the Australian top order in 10.1 overs. "I told you so," he said to Douglas after one of his breakthroughs. His five scalps were Warren Bardsley
Warren Bardsley
Warren "Curly" Bardsley was an Australian Test cricketer. An opening batsman, Bardsley played 41 Tests between 1909 and 1926 and over 200 first-class games for New South Wales...
, Charles Kelleway
Charles Kelleway
Charles Kelleway was an Australian cricketer who played in 26 Tests between 1910 and 1928....
, Clem Hill
Clem Hill
Clement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five...
, Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...
and Roy Minnett
Roy Minnett
Roy Baldwin Minnett was an Australian cricketer who played in 9 Tests from 1911 to 1912.His two older brothers, Leslie and Rupert, both played for New South Wales....
, leaving the home side floundering on 38 for six.
In the 1912 Triangular Tournament
1912 Triangular Tournament
The 1912 Triangular Tournament was a Test cricket competition played between Australia, England and South Africa, the only Test-playing nations at the time....
, Barnes played in all six of England's Tests, three each against Australia and South Africa.
In 1913–14, Barnes toured South Africa with MCC and played in the first four Tests of a five match series. He missed the last Test because of a financial disagreement. Barnes's 49 wickets this series remains the world record for wickets taken in a Test series. In the second Test at the Old Wanderers
Old Wanderers
Old Wanderers was a cricket ground in Johannesburg, South Africa. The ground hosted 22 Test matches from 1895 to 1939, before being rebuilt as Johannesburg's Park Station in 1946...
ground in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, he became the first bowler to take more than 15 wickets in a Test with figures of 8–56 and 9–103 resulting in a match analysis of 17–159. Only Jim Laker
Jim Laker
James "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...
's match analysis of 19–90 in 1956 has since surpassed this feat.
Barnes took 189 Test wickets. His average of 16.43 and strike rate
Strike rate
Strike rate refers to two different statistics in the sport of cricket. Batting strike rate is a measure of how frequently a batsman achieves the primary goal of batting, namely scoring runs. Bowling strike rate is a measure of how frequently a bowler achieves the primary goal of bowling, namely...
of 41.65 are the lowest amongst bowlers who have played in more than 25 Tests and taken more than 150 wickets. His closest challenger is Alan Davidson
Alan Davidson (cricketer)
Alan Keith Davidson, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer of the 1950s and 1960s. He was an all rounder: a hard-hitting lower-order left-handed batsman, and an outstanding left-arm fast-medium opening bowler...
, who took 186 wickets at 20.53. His figures are the second lowest (after the 10.75 and 34.11 respectively of George Lohmann
George Lohmann
George Alfred Lohmann is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time...
) among bowlers who have taken 75 Test wickets or more.
Minor Counties and League cricket
Barnes made 172 appearances for Staffordshire in the Minor Counties Championship from 1904 to 1935. His career with Staffordshire was in two parts: 1904 to 1914; and 1924 to 1935. From 1915 to 1923, Barnes played exclusively for Saltaire in the Bradford LeagueBradford Cricket League
The Bradford Cricket League is an amateur cricket competition centred in Bradford, West Yorkshire...
.
In league cricket, Barnes played in the Lancashire League with the Rishton, Burnley
Burnley Cricket Club
Burnley Cricket Club, based at Turf Moor in Burnley, Lancashire, is a cricket club in the Lancashire League.The club was a founder member of the Lancashire League in 1892. Its captain for the 2011 season is Steve Brunt and its professional is Imad Wasim...
and Church clubs from 1895 to 1914 and for Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall Cricket Club
Rawtenstall Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Lancashire League, which plays its home games at the Worswick Memorial Ground in Rawtenstall. For the 2011 season its captain is Vinny Hanson, and its professional is Sri Lankan Malinga Bandara. The club has won the league on seven occasions and won...
from 1931 to 1933. He was with Porthill in the North Staffordshire League
North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League
The North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire area of England. Since 2001 it has been a designated ECB Premier League.-Winners:-External links:...
from 1906 to 1914. From 1924 to 1930, he played for Castleton Moor and Rochdale in the Central Lancashire League. In addition to his spell with Saltaire in the Bradford League, he played for Keighley in 1934, which was his final season in league cricket.
His record for Staffordshire was 1,441 wickets at a cost of 8.15 runs per wicket.
He played as the professional for Saltaire from 1915 until 1923, taking 803 wickets at an average of just over 5. He took a hundred wickets in a season three times, a feat that has only been achieved on two other occasions in the Bradford League's history. He returned to the league for Keighley in 1934 when he was 61.
Barnes played minor county and league cricket well into his sixties and died aged 94 on 26 December 1967 at Chadsmoor, Staffordshire.
Style and personality
Barnes was described as more than six feet tall and maintaining an erect posture with wide shoulders, a deep chest, long arms and strong legs – in John Arlott's view, "perfectly built to be a bowler". He bowled right arm fast-medium but also had what Arlott called "the accuracy, spin and resource of a slow bowler". Barnes' high delivery provided him with a lift off the pitch that forced even the best batsmen to play him at an awkward height. He was clever at concealing his pace and could produce deliveries that were both appreciably faster and slower than his usual fast-medium pace; and could bowl an effective yorkerYorker
Yorker is a term used in cricket that describes a ball bowled which hits the cricket pitch around the batsman's feet. When a batsman assumes a normal stance this generally means that the cricket ball bounces on the cricket pitch on or near the batsman's popping crease...
. Barnes considered himself essentially a spin bowleras he bowled both the off-break and the leg-break. Although technically formidable, Barnes allied his skillset to a hostile persona and great stamina which, Arlott says, "were reflected in constant, unrelenting probing for a batsman's weakness and then attacking it by surprise, each ball fitting into a tactical pattern".
Harry Altham
Harry Altham
Harry Surtees Altham, CBE, DSO, MC was an English cricketer who became an important figure in the game as an administrator, historian and coach. His Wisden obituary described him as "among the best known personalities in the world of cricket"...
wrote of his bowling: "At appreciably more than medium pace he could, even in the finest weather and on the truest wickets in Australia, both swing and break the ball from off or leg. Most deadly of all was the ball which he would deliver from rather wide on the crease, move in with a late swerve the width of the wicket, and then straighten back off the ground to hit the off stump".
Bernard Hollowood
Bernard Hollowood
Albert Bernard Hollowood was an English writer, cartoonist and economist. He was editor of the humorous weekly magazine Punch from 1957 to 1968.- Life and career :...
played alongside Barnes for Staffordshire in the 1930s and quoted his father, Albert Hollowood, who had been Barnes' Staffordshire captain before the First World War, as saying: "Oh, yes, he could bowl 'em all, but he got his wickets with fast leg-breaks. Marvellous, absolutely marvellous, he was. Fast leg-breaks and always on a length".
Bernard Hollowood drew two cartoons of Barnes, which appear in his book Cricket on the Brain. One depicts him leaping in the air as he appeals for a dismissal and with his index finger raised as though he himself is adjudicating on the appeal. It is entitled 'A.N. Other lbw Barnes.... 0'. John Arlott
John Arlott
Leslie Thomas John Arlott OBE was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's Test Match Special. He was also a poet, wine connoisseur and former police officer in Hampshire...
wrote in his review of the book for the 1971 Wisden: ...his two caricatures of S.F. Barnes would seem transcendent if they were not outweighed by his chapter on that great bowler which is a fine passage of cricket literature... this is a book of many and well-cut facets.
Legacy
In 1910, Barnes was made a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.Writing in the May 1963 edition of The Cricketer
The Cricketer
The Cricketer was an English cricket magazine published between 1921 and 2003 when it was merged with Wisden Cricket Monthly and relaunched as The Wisden Cricketer....
, John Arlott
John Arlott
Leslie Thomas John Arlott OBE was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's Test Match Special. He was also a poet, wine connoisseur and former police officer in Hampshire...
published a tribute to Barnes which commemorated his 90th birthday. Arlott wrote that of those who played with or against Barnes, "(they) had no doubt that he stood alone – the greatest bowler that ever lived".
In the 1963 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, Barnes was selected by Neville Cardus
Neville Cardus
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
as one the Six Giants of the Wisden Century
Six Giants of the Wisden Century
The "Six Giants of the Wisden Century" are six cricketers who were judged by Sir Neville Cardus in 1963 to have been the most notable players of the previous 100 years...
. This was a special commemorative selection requested by Wisden for its 100th edition. The other five players chosen were:
- Don Bradman
- W. G. GraceW. G. GraceWilliam Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
- Jack HobbsJack HobbsSir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
- Tom RichardsonTom RichardsonTom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...
- Victor TrumperVictor TrumperVictor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
As S.C. Griffith, the former MCC secretary, wrote in a tribute to Barnes in the Wisden for 1968: "The extraordinary thing about him was that all his contemporaries considered him the greatest bowler. There was never any doubts in their minds. This must have been unique."
Richie Benaud
Richie Benaud
Richard "Richie" Benaud OBE is a former Australian cricketer who, since his retirement from international cricket in 1964, has become a highly regarded commentator on the game....
selected him in his all time cricket XI
Richie Benaud's Greatest XI
Richie Benaud’s Greatest XI is the title of a 2004 DVD in which cricketing doyen Richie Benaud selected an imaginary cricket team, from the best players available from all countries and all eras...
.