Line and Length
Cricketer Of The Year
A lot has been posted about Sydney Barnes in various ATG discussions. Just how good was he?
The passages below are excerpts from an article which appeared in "Roar" under "All-Day-Roseville-All-Day"
Sydney Francis Barnes was born 150 years ago this week, on 19 April 1873. It’s timely for him to again be acknowledged as one of the greatest bowlers ever.
Unfortunately we can’t directly compare him with modern greats such as Glenn McGrath, Malcolm Marshall and Shane Warne. Instead we must rely on statistics, and on those who having seen Barnes, then watched cricket right through to the 1970s.
In 2013, Wisden named him Barnes in an all-time World XI that marked 150 years of its Cricketers’ Almanack. In 2009, he was an inaugural member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. When the “ICC Best-Ever Test Championship Ratings” were published in 2008, Barnes’s 932 in 1914 was the highest achieved.
As no-one alive now ever saw Barnes, peers’ opinions must suffice. Here are some, years later-
“The best of ‘em today is half as good as ‘Barnie.’” England great Wilfred Rhodes in 1973
“He was the finest bowler there ever was.” England ex-captain Arthur Gilligan in 1967
“If Barnes wasn’t the greatest bowler ever born, he was so close to it that it doesn’t matter.” Historian and ex-Australian player Johnny Moyes in 1950.
In 27 Tests, Barnes took 189 wickets at 16.43. His combination of average, strike-rate and workload will never be matched.
His aggregate was a record until Clarrie Grimmett passed it in 1936, after delivering 13,500 balls to Barnes’ 7,873. Only George Lohmann has 100 wickets at a lower average. Barnes’ team-mates’ collective average in the same games was almost double at 29.59.
Barnes’ seven wickets per match is unsurpassed. The closest are the 1890s’ Tom Richardson (88 wickets at 6.29 per game) and Lohmann (112 at 6.22), and Muttiah Muralitharan (800 at 6.02). He also claimed a wicket every 41 deliveries. Only Kagiso Rabada has more at a better strike-rate.
The calibre of Barnes’ victims was high, the most frequent being Victor Trumper (13 times) and Clem Hill (11). Both fell more often to Barnes, than to any other bowler.
In the 1911/12 Ashes tour. at the MCG, a ‘flu-stricken Barnes produced a first-morning spell matched only by that of Stuart Broad at Trent Bridge in 2015. Here are three accounts-
“Barnes was magnificent. When the first six Australian wickets were down, his bowling showed: Overs, 11; maidens, 7; runs, 6; wickets, 5. This on a perfect wicket, and I look back on it as the finest bowling that I have ever witnessed.” Jack Hobbs
“I played three different balls. Three balls to play in a split second- a straight ‘un, an in-swinger and a break back ! Then along came one which was straight half-way, not more than medium pace. Then it swerved to my legs, perfect for tickling around the corner for a single. But the ruddy thing again broke across after pitching, quick off the ground and took my off stump !” Clem Hill
“There had never been a more astounding piece of bowling than this on a perfect piece of turf. His control was superb. Though conditions favoured the batsman, this man could get five of them in eleven overs for 6 runs.” Johnny Moyes
Barnes’ biggest weapon was termed the “Barnes ball.” It swerved into batsmen, dipped late in flight, and after pitching moved away. He also possessed one that did the opposite, swerving away before moving back in. And by spinning the ball from the front of the hand, he could conceal its movement in a way that a wrist-spinner could not.
Here are some descriptions by leading contemporaries-
“On his great Australian tour he clean-bowled Victor Trumper at the height of his powers, a ball swerving from the leg stump to the off and then breaking back to hit the leg. It was the sort of ball, that a man might see when he was tight. I was at the other end, I should know.” Charlie Macartney
“On a perfect wicket Barnes could swing the new ball in and out very late, could spin from the ground, pitch on the leg stump and miss the off.” Clem Hill
“He relied on disguised changes of pace and of break, which he never overdid. His best ball was one, very nearly fast, which pitched on the leg-stump to hit the top of the off, sometimes even on a good wicket.” CB Fry
“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. The secret of his mastery, though, was strictly and supremely physical- the supple steel of his fingers and hand.” Harry Altham
James Anderson was recently judged the world’s number-one bowler, at age 40. Barnes’ Test career was ended at the same age by WWI’s onset. However he kept playing professionally and between ages 54 and 57, in his final 11 first-class matches, claimed 60 wickets at 16.68.
When aged 55, he took 7/51 and 5/67 for Wales against the West Indies, who rated him the best bowler they faced during their tour. He then claimed 6/58 and 2/29 against county champions Lancashire.
When aged 56, he twice dominated the touring South Africans. For Minor Counties he took 8/41 from 32 consecutive overs and 1/19, and for Wales he claimed 6/28 and 4/62. The performances helped earn him fifth position in that season’s averages.
For Staffordshire until the age of 62, he took 1,441 wickets at 8.15, mostly against first-class counties’ Second XIs. And as a club pro until the age of 67, he took 4,069 wickets at 6.08.
His tally from Tests down to leagues was a phenomenal 6,229 wickets at 8.33.
The passages below are excerpts from an article which appeared in "Roar" under "All-Day-Roseville-All-Day"
Sydney Francis Barnes was born 150 years ago this week, on 19 April 1873. It’s timely for him to again be acknowledged as one of the greatest bowlers ever.
Unfortunately we can’t directly compare him with modern greats such as Glenn McGrath, Malcolm Marshall and Shane Warne. Instead we must rely on statistics, and on those who having seen Barnes, then watched cricket right through to the 1970s.
In 2013, Wisden named him Barnes in an all-time World XI that marked 150 years of its Cricketers’ Almanack. In 2009, he was an inaugural member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. When the “ICC Best-Ever Test Championship Ratings” were published in 2008, Barnes’s 932 in 1914 was the highest achieved.
As no-one alive now ever saw Barnes, peers’ opinions must suffice. Here are some, years later-
“The best of ‘em today is half as good as ‘Barnie.’” England great Wilfred Rhodes in 1973
“He was the finest bowler there ever was.” England ex-captain Arthur Gilligan in 1967
“If Barnes wasn’t the greatest bowler ever born, he was so close to it that it doesn’t matter.” Historian and ex-Australian player Johnny Moyes in 1950.
In 27 Tests, Barnes took 189 wickets at 16.43. His combination of average, strike-rate and workload will never be matched.
His aggregate was a record until Clarrie Grimmett passed it in 1936, after delivering 13,500 balls to Barnes’ 7,873. Only George Lohmann has 100 wickets at a lower average. Barnes’ team-mates’ collective average in the same games was almost double at 29.59.
Barnes’ seven wickets per match is unsurpassed. The closest are the 1890s’ Tom Richardson (88 wickets at 6.29 per game) and Lohmann (112 at 6.22), and Muttiah Muralitharan (800 at 6.02). He also claimed a wicket every 41 deliveries. Only Kagiso Rabada has more at a better strike-rate.
The calibre of Barnes’ victims was high, the most frequent being Victor Trumper (13 times) and Clem Hill (11). Both fell more often to Barnes, than to any other bowler.
In the 1911/12 Ashes tour. at the MCG, a ‘flu-stricken Barnes produced a first-morning spell matched only by that of Stuart Broad at Trent Bridge in 2015. Here are three accounts-
“Barnes was magnificent. When the first six Australian wickets were down, his bowling showed: Overs, 11; maidens, 7; runs, 6; wickets, 5. This on a perfect wicket, and I look back on it as the finest bowling that I have ever witnessed.” Jack Hobbs
“I played three different balls. Three balls to play in a split second- a straight ‘un, an in-swinger and a break back ! Then along came one which was straight half-way, not more than medium pace. Then it swerved to my legs, perfect for tickling around the corner for a single. But the ruddy thing again broke across after pitching, quick off the ground and took my off stump !” Clem Hill
“There had never been a more astounding piece of bowling than this on a perfect piece of turf. His control was superb. Though conditions favoured the batsman, this man could get five of them in eleven overs for 6 runs.” Johnny Moyes
Barnes’ biggest weapon was termed the “Barnes ball.” It swerved into batsmen, dipped late in flight, and after pitching moved away. He also possessed one that did the opposite, swerving away before moving back in. And by spinning the ball from the front of the hand, he could conceal its movement in a way that a wrist-spinner could not.
Here are some descriptions by leading contemporaries-
“On his great Australian tour he clean-bowled Victor Trumper at the height of his powers, a ball swerving from the leg stump to the off and then breaking back to hit the leg. It was the sort of ball, that a man might see when he was tight. I was at the other end, I should know.” Charlie Macartney
“On a perfect wicket Barnes could swing the new ball in and out very late, could spin from the ground, pitch on the leg stump and miss the off.” Clem Hill
“He relied on disguised changes of pace and of break, which he never overdid. His best ball was one, very nearly fast, which pitched on the leg-stump to hit the top of the off, sometimes even on a good wicket.” CB Fry
“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. The secret of his mastery, though, was strictly and supremely physical- the supple steel of his fingers and hand.” Harry Altham
James Anderson was recently judged the world’s number-one bowler, at age 40. Barnes’ Test career was ended at the same age by WWI’s onset. However he kept playing professionally and between ages 54 and 57, in his final 11 first-class matches, claimed 60 wickets at 16.68.
When aged 55, he took 7/51 and 5/67 for Wales against the West Indies, who rated him the best bowler they faced during their tour. He then claimed 6/58 and 2/29 against county champions Lancashire.
When aged 56, he twice dominated the touring South Africans. For Minor Counties he took 8/41 from 32 consecutive overs and 1/19, and for Wales he claimed 6/28 and 4/62. The performances helped earn him fifth position in that season’s averages.
For Staffordshire until the age of 62, he took 1,441 wickets at 8.15, mostly against first-class counties’ Second XIs. And as a club pro until the age of 67, he took 4,069 wickets at 6.08.
His tally from Tests down to leagues was a phenomenal 6,229 wickets at 8.33.
