Sydney Barnes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Sydney Barnes

Barnes in 1910
Personal information
Full name	Sydney Francis Barnes
Born	(1873-04-19)19 April 1873 Smethwick, Staffordshire, England
Died	26 December 1967(1967-12-26) (aged 94) Chadsmoor, Staffordshire, England
Nickname	Barney
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast-medium Right-arm leg spin
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 129)	13 December 1901 v Australia
Last Test	18 February 1914 v South Africa
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1894–1896	Warwickshire
1899–1903	Lancashire
1904–1914, 1924–1935	Staffordshire
1927–1930	Wales
1929	Minor Counties
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class Matches 27 133 Runs scored 242 1,573 Batting average 8.06 12.78 100s/50s 0/0 0/2 Top score 38* 93 Balls bowled 7,873 31,430 Wickets 189 719 Bowling average 16.43 17.09 5 wickets in innings 24 68 10 wickets in match 7 18 Best bowling 9/103 9/103 Catches/stumpings 12/– 72/–
Source: CricketArchive, 12 June 2011

Sydney Francis Barnes (born 19 April 1873 – died 26 December 1967) was an English professional cricket player. Many people think he was one of the greatest bowlers of all time. He bowled with his right arm at a medium to fast speed. He could make the ball swing (move sideways in the air) and break (change direction after hitting the ground).

Barnes played for England in 27 Test matches between 1901 and 1914. He took 189 wickets, with a very low bowling average of 16.43. This is one of the best averages ever in Test cricket. In 1911–12, he helped England win the Ashes against Australia, taking 34 wickets. In his last Test series in 1913–14, he set a world record by taking 49 wickets against South Africa.

Even though he had a long career, Barnes played only a short time in top-level first-class cricket. He played for Warwickshire (1894–1896) and Lancashire (1899–1903). He preferred playing in local leagues and for minor counties. This was mainly because the pay was better. He played for his home county, Staffordshire, in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship from 1904 to 1914 and again from 1924 to 1935.

Early Life and Other Work

Where Sydney Barnes Grew Up

Sydney Barnes was born in Smethwick, Staffordshire, on 19 April 1873. He was one of five children. His father worked for 63 years at the Muntz Metal Company. Sydney was the only one of his brothers who played cricket.

What Did Barnes Do Besides Cricket?

Outside of cricket, Barnes worked as a clerk in a coal mine until 1914. Later, he worked for the Staffordshire County Council. He became very good at calligraphy, which is beautiful handwriting. Even when he was in his nineties, people still wanted him to write legal documents. In 1957, he wrote a special scroll for Elizabeth II when she visited Stafford.

Sydney Barnes's Cricket Journey

Starting Cricket: 1888 to 1894

Barnes started playing cricket in 1888 when he was 15 years old. He played for a small local club in Smethwick. Soon, he joined Smethwick Cricket Club. There, a professional player named Billy Bird taught him how to bowl off spin. Barnes then taught himself to bowl leg spin. By 1893, he was playing for Smethwick's main team.

In 1894, Barnes was 21 and a fast bowler. He was asked to join Staffordshire County Cricket Club, but he didn't like the pay. Instead, he joined Rishton Cricket Club in the Lancashire League. The pay there was much better than in county cricket, thanks to bonuses. He played for Rishton until 1899. People said his career in league cricket was "unparalleled" (meaning, no one else was as good).

Later in 1894, Barnes played his first official first-class match for Warwickshire. The game was against Gloucestershire, but bad weather stopped most of the play.

Playing for Lancashire and England Debut: 1895 to 1903

Barnes played only three more times for Warwickshire. He then chose to play mostly for Rishton from 1895 to 1899. During this time, he took 411 wickets. He changed his bowling speed from fast to medium-fast and started trying out spin.

In 1899, Barnes started playing for Lancashire's second team. He did so well that he soon played for their main team. But he turned down a full-time contract with Lancashire. He preferred the better pay of league cricket, which he could do alongside his job as a clerk.

In 1901, Barnes played for Lancashire again. Even though he hadn't played much first-class cricket, he was chosen to join the England team touring Australia. This was a big surprise, but England's captain, Archie MacLaren, saw how talented Barnes was.

Barnes was very successful in Australia. He made his Test debut against Australia on 13 December 1901. He took five wickets in the first innings, helping England win easily. In the second Test, he took six wickets and then seven wickets. But he bowled too much and injured his knee in the third Test, missing the rest of the tour. Even so, he had shown he was a world-class bowler.

Barnes had some disagreements with Captain MacLaren about pay. Barnes was a professional and wanted to be paid fairly for his hard work. After the tour, Barnes played regularly for Lancashire in 1902 and 1903. However, he continued to argue about his pay and how much he was bowling. He felt he was doing more work than others but getting paid the same. In 1903, he refused to sign a new contract with Lancashire. So, he left first-class county cricket for good and went back to playing in leagues and for minor counties.

Dominating Test Cricket: 1904 to 1914

From 1904 to 1914, Barnes played for Staffordshire in the Minor Counties Championship. He also played league cricket on weekends. He didn't play first-class cricket again for over four years.

Barnes returned to Test cricket when England toured Australia in 1907–08. He played in all five Tests and took 24 wickets. In 1909, he played in three Tests against Australia in England. In 1910, he was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year, which is a big award in cricket.

Barnes joined the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) tour of Australia in 1911–12. He played in all five Tests. In the second Test, he bowled amazingly, taking four wickets for just one run in his first five overs. He ended up taking 39 wickets in the series.

In 1912, Barnes played in a special tournament with England, Australia, and South Africa. He took 34 wickets in three matches against South Africa.

His most famous series was in 1913–14 when he toured South Africa. He took an incredible 49 wickets in that series, which is still a world record for wickets in a Test series. In one match, he took 17 wickets, which was also a record at the time.

Barnes took 189 Test wickets in total. His bowling average of 16.43 is one of the best ever for bowlers who have played more than 25 Tests. He reached 150 Test wickets in only his 24th Test, which is a world record.

League Cricket During and After War: 1915 to 1923

When World War I started in 1914, Barnes was 41, too old for military service. First-class cricket stopped, but league cricket continued. Many top players joined the Bradford League. Barnes joined Saltaire Cricket Club in 1915. He played for them until 1923 and was very successful. Saltaire won the league three times while he was there. In one game, he took all ten wickets for just 14 runs!

Barnes knew how valuable he was to Saltaire. He earned good money, including bonuses from crowd collections. He also coached at Bradford Grammar School. In total, Barnes took 904 wickets for Saltaire, with an amazing average of 5.26. He took 100 wickets in a season five times. He was the best bowler in the league every year he played for Saltaire.

Years later, a famous England bowler named Jim Laker heard two other great cricketers, George Hirst and Herbert Sutcliffe, agree that "Sydney Barnes was the greatest bowler there has ever been and what's more the greatest bowler there ever will be." Laker also met Barnes, who gave him advice: "Keep trying something different."

Later Career and Retirement: 1924 to 1935

Barnes turned down a chance to tour Australia in 1920–21 because he wanted his family to come, but he would have had to pay for them. He didn't play first-class cricket again until 1927, when he was 54. From 1927 to 1930, he played nine matches for the Wales national cricket team.

After leaving Saltaire in 1923, he returned to Staffordshire. He continued to play league cricket on weekends until 1934. His last first-class match was for Wales in 1930.

Barnes played 177 matches for Staffordshire in total. He took 1,432 wickets for them at an average of 8.03. He played his last match for Staffordshire in 1935 when he was 62 years old. This was mostly the end of his long cricket career.

How Sydney Barnes Bowled

Barnes's Unique Bowling Style

Barnes was always trying to get batsmen out. He kept changing his bowling to surprise them. He could bowl balls that swung (moved in the air) and spun (changed direction off the ground) in both directions. He bowled at a fast-medium speed.

He was especially good at bowling fast leg spin without turning his wrist much. He used his long fingers to put spin on the ball. Fielders close to the pitch could hear his fingers snap as he bowled. This made it very hard for batsmen to guess which way the ball would go.

Barnes was over six feet tall and had a strong build. This made him perfect for bowling. He could bowl fast-medium but also had the accuracy and spin of a slow bowler. His high arm action made the ball bounce up awkwardly for batsmen. He was also good at hiding his speed, bowling some balls faster or slower than usual. He could even bowl a very effective yorker (a ball that hits the ground right at the batsman's feet).

Barnes thought of himself as a spin bowler, even though he bowled fast. He could bowl both off-break and leg-break spins. He was not only skilled but also very determined. He would constantly look for a batsman's weakness and then attack it with surprising deliveries. In his time, the same ball was used for a whole innings, and pitches were often uneven, which helped bowlers.

Another famous cricket writer, Harry Altham, said Barnes could make the ball swing and break even on the best pitches. He had a very dangerous ball that started wide, swung in late, and then straightened off the ground to hit the stumps.

Clem Hill, a great Australian batsman, said Barnes could swing the new ball in and out very late. He could also spin the ball from the ground, starting on the leg stump and missing the off stump. This shows how much variety Barnes had in just one over.

Awards and Tributes

Recognizing a Cricket Legend

In 1963, the famous Wisden cricket book chose Barnes as one of the "Six Giants of the Wisden Century". This was a special award for its 100th edition. The other five players chosen were Don Bradman, W. G. Grace, Jack Hobbs, Tom Richardson, and Victor Trumper.

John Arlott, another cricket writer, wrote a tribute to Barnes for his 90th birthday. Arlott said that everyone who played with or against Barnes believed he was "the greatest bowler that ever lived."

In 2008, Barnes's rating in the "ICC Best-Ever Test Championship Ratings" was 932, which was the highest ever achieved by any bowler. In 2009, Barnes was one of the first people to be put into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was also named in an all-time Test World XI by Wisden to celebrate 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack.

Personal Life

Barnes married Alice Maud Taylor in 1903. They had one son named Leslie. Barnes became good friends with Pelham Warner, another famous cricketer, and they often watched cricket together. Barnes passed away in 1967 at his home in Chadsmoor, Staffordshire.

Images for kids

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  Barnes in 1910