Graham Derek Barlow (born 26 March 1950) is a former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er and was a

middle-order In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

and, briefly, for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Early life

Educated at the former Ealing Grammar School for Boys (now

Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College West London College, legally known as the Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College is a large further and higher education college in West London, England, formed in 2002 by the merger between Ealing Tertiary College and Hammersmith and West ...

), Barlow was both a talented cricketer and rugby player in his youth. He has been capped for the

under-23

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

team.

Career

A stylish, confident and powerful player, Barlow was an important figure in the powerhouse

team of the late 1970s and early 1980s under

Mike Brearley John Michael Brearley (born 28 April 1942) is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England. He captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 18 and losing only 4 ...

(and later

Mike Gatting Michael William Gatting (born 6 June 1957) is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex (1975–1998; captain 1983–1997) and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test ma ...

), helping them to win the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

outright in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, 1980, 1982 and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, and to share it with

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 1977. He was described as a natural athlete, and his quick running between the wickets, often in partnership with the equally fleet of foot Clive Radley, and later in profitable partnerships with

Wilf Slack Wilfred Norris Slack (12 December 1954 – 15 January 1989) was an English cricketer, who played in three Test matches and two One Day Internationals for England in 1986. A left-handed opening batsman, Slack was a victim of mysterious blacko ...

, was a feature of his play. Barlow won many one-day games for his team, helping Middlesex to win the Gillette Cup in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

and 1980, the 1983 Benson & Hedges Cup and the 1984 NatWest Trophy. He was an outstanding fieldsman, ranked alongside Derek Randall and the youthful

David Gower David Ivon Gower (born 1 April 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 Te ...

in the covers. He ran out many batsmen with a fine sense of anticipation, good ground coverage and a fast and accurate arm. He played three Test matches, but was unable to play the major innings, which might have cemented himself in the England team. His debut One Day International saw his best innings, an unbeaten 80 against a strong

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

side, but he struggled in five more ODIs after that. He made a strong start in the first-class matches of his 1976–77 tour to India, but could not translate that form into the Test arena. At the end of this tour he made a century in a match for the England XI against the Sri Lankans, but as Sri Lanka were five years short of Test status, this did not count towards his Test record. At the start of the 1977 Australia tour of England he top-scored for England in their first victory over Australia of the summer in a One Day International in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, but he was dropped after another failure in the first Test of the summer. In five Test innings, Barlow never reached double figures, and defensive flaws saw him ultimately overlooked. He continued as a prolific player for Middlesex, often opening the batting, but ironically for such a fit and athletic player his career was ended prematurely by a persistent

back injury Back injuries result from damage, wear, or trauma to the bones, muscles, or other tissues of the back. Common back injuries include sprains and strains, herniated discs, and fractured vertebrae. The lumbar spine is often the site of back pain. ...

. He turned to coaching and, in 2001, moved to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, taking charge of the

Central Districts Stags The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

in 2004.Graham Barlow named new coach of Central Districts
at ESPN Cricinfo, 14 June 2004 He later resided in Whangarei, teaching.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlow, Graham 1950 births Living people English cricketers England Test cricketers England One Day International cricketers Middlesex cricketers People educated at Ealing County Grammar School for Boys People from Folkestone Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers