Victor Alexander Barton was a cricket

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...

er who played for Kent County Cricket Club

Kent County Cricket Club

Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...

 in 1889

1889 English cricket season

The 1889 English cricket season saw the number of balls per over increased from four to five. The four-ball over had been used since time immemorial....

 and 1890

1890 English cricket season

The 1890 English cricket season was the first year the County Championship was officially held, which Surrey won after winning nine out of fourteen games...

 before committing himself to the Army.

Cricket career

It was while he was in the Army that he was selected for the second England

English cricket team

The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...

 team to tour in 1891-92, which was a team that travelled to South Africa

South African cricket team

The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...

. The other side went to Australia

Australian cricket team

The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...

. It was on the 1891-92 tour that Barton played one match that was later to be recognised as a Test match

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...

.

He later went on to play for Hampshire

Hampshire County Cricket Club

Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...

 between 1895

1895 English cricket season

The 1895 English cricket season saw Surrey win the County Championship title for the fifth time in six years, despite increased competition, as the tournament was expanded from nine to fourteen teams...

 and 1902

1902 English cricket season

The 1902 English cricket season saw the first Ashes series in England since 1899, when Australia had won a series in England for the first time since 1882. Australia won again, this time 2–1, with the first two Tests rained off...

. Bedevilled by ill-health, Barton died aged 39.

Football career

Barton also played football as a goalkeeper, making one appearance for Southampton St. Mary's in the semi-final of the Hampshire Senior Cup

Hampshire Senior Cup

The Hampshire Senior Cup is a cup competition open to football teams affiliated with the Hampshire Football Association. The competition was founded in 1888 and has been contested every year since, with the exception of 1914 to 1919 when it was postponed due to World War I.Despite the...

 in February 1893. In the match, played at the County Ground, Southampton

County Ground, Southampton

The County Ground in Southampton, England was a former cricket and football ground. It was the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club from the 1885 English cricket season until the 2000 English cricket season...

, the Saints defeated Portsmouth

Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

 2–0. Barton was injured by the time of the final on 11 March and was replaced by Ralph Ruffell, with Southampton going down 2–1 to local rivals Freemantle

Freemantle F.C.

Freemantle Football Club were a football club based in the Freemantle area of Southampton who were active at the end of the nineteenth century. During their brief heyday, they were rivals to Southampton Football Club...

.

Career outside sport

In partnership with former Southampton St. Mary's footballer Jack Dorkin

Jack Dorkin

Jack W. Dorkin was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Southampton St. Mary's in the 1890s.-Football career:...

 , Barton ran a sports outfitters business in Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

.

External links

• Cricinfo page on Victor Barton
• CricketArchive page on Victor Barton
• A profile of Victor Barton by Dave Liverman
• http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/155782.htmlObituary of Victor Barton in the 1907 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
  Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
  Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
  
  ]