SF Barnes

[Jager]

Here is an interesting scorecard from the 1929 tour of England by the South Africans.

Barnes (56 yrs old) knocked over both the openers, Herbie Taylor (28), and Bruce Mitchell (7);

The Home of CricketArchive

Magnificent find mate. Very, very interesting! 8 wickets at 56 years of age against quality like that.

 

[watson]

Magnificent find mate. Very, very interesting! 8 wickets at 56 years of age against quality like that.

I see that you are still a connoisseur Jager

 

[Jager]

I see that you are still a connoisseur Jager

Always, mate. What a player.

 

[54321]

That is a wonderful link. Good first post

Thank you

.

Ah, Twirlymen is a book I still have to get a hold of. In Wilkins' book, he mentions that Noble bowled his off break slightly round arm if I'm not mistaken, a contrast to Barnes' high arm during his bowling. Just to add on, in Leslie Duckworth's biography on Barnes there is a small birds eye illustration of the path of Barnes' swerving off break with the position of the 2 poles he used to practice with. But of course with all the descriptions provided it's not too hard to imagine how the ball would move off and on the pitch.

 

[Migara]

He did not unfurl the wrist for his leg break, but rather ****ed it backwards and rotated it, as though he was, as Rajan says, "unscrewing a light bulb".

Basically a faster version of Ajantha Mendis as it sounds. No it cannot be. Anyone who bowls like Mendis is a joke, Barnes is serious quality. There must be something missing in the description

 

[Red]

Always, mate. What a player.

Hey man, good to see you back. Where you been?

 

[watson]

Recently opened my parcel all the way from the UK with Jack Fingleton's book in it, 'Masters of Cricket, from Trumper to May' (1958). Went straight to the chapter on SF Barnes and found the following interesting paragraph;

Monty Noble, in particular, captivated him. Here was an off-spinner of the old and original school (very similar to the latter-day Jim Laker) who possessed all the variations of the art. Noble would gain tricks of flight by delivering the ball at various heights - gaining this by dipping or straightening his right leg at the moment of release - and he had an out curve as distinct from the ordinary off-break. If a breeze came in from fine-leg, Noble was in his element as he curved, floated, and dropped the ball with side-spin and over-spin. He brought to the cricket field much of the technique of the baseball pitcher.

I don't know whether modern Test bowlers have a union in which they swap the tricks of the trade - I think not - but Syd Barnes found that Noble lived up to his name, for the great Australian all-rounder and captain gave him many tips on bowling.

Noble and Laker similar bowlers?!

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

It's interesting how Noble described to Barnes

Barnes said he once asked Noble: "if he would care to tell me how he managed to bring the ball back against the swerve.

"He said it was possible to put two poles down the wicket, one 10 or 11 yards from the bowling crease and another one five or six yards from the batsman, and to bowl a ball outside the first pole and make it swing to the off-side of the other pole and then nip back and hit the wickets. That's how I learned to spin a ball and make it swing. It is also possible to bowl in between these two poles, pitch the ball outside leg stump and hit the wicket. I spent hours trying all this out in the nets."

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Barnes -overrated!

There's a bloke from Burnley who averages 36 away from England who is clearly England's greatest ever bowler. (If you believe the media)

 

[54321]

I figured this would be the best thread to upload these pics. Apologies for bumping it yet again.

First up is an article from the March 1978 issue of "The Cricketer", showcasing some edited notes of S.F Barnes.



The continuation on page 33 is only a little more writing. As short as the article is, it is a great insight into his tactics. From what i can gather, the "swerve" mentioned in this piece is definitely "drift" in today's terms.


A Bonus:

An article by Spofforth. I think it was published around 1910. Not sure what the magazine/newspaper is.




Again, it is another great insight into the tactics of a champion bowler of the past. I'm not sure if the off-break and leg-break grips in the illustrations were the grips he used for his cutters. The advice in the final page is also brilliant, definitely echoes into the modern game.

It's clear the swerve mentioned here is "swing", since the grip is seam up. It should be known that "swerve" back then was basically a term for any movement in the air. I'm not sure if it's clear from how I captured the page, but you should be able to see how flat the seam is on the ball. I find Bart King's supposed "anglers"(named from the amount of movement he produced in the air) much more impressive.

Also, I've seen Spofforth's half ball grip mentioned in other books. For anyone wondering, I think he basically held the ball with the usual grip however index and middle finger lay on one side of the seam but still on the stitching (the right side). In Dennis Lillee's "Art of Fast Bowling" there is an illustration of this half ball grip, which I think is the same as Spofforth's.

It's just fascinating to see how both bowlers were aggressive and attacking in their approach. Would have been a treat to see them bowl in a proper match.

Also both of these publications are still probably available on Ebay...

 

[adisachkul]

Barnes was master of swing.spin.cutters with swing & drift for all his ball.
Barnes ball to produce u have to give leg spin from front hand.ball in the palm.use ur index finger & middle finger for extremely strong flick for drift & turn.& speed 100 kph.very difficult