William Barnes (27 May 1852 – 24 March 1899) was an English professional

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played for

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Nottinghamshire. The club's limited overs team is called th ...

from 1875 to 1894, and in 21 Test matches for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

from 1880 to 1890. He was born at

Sutton-in-Ashfield Sutton-in-Ashfield is a market town in Nottinghamshire, England, with a population of 36,404 in 2021. It is the largest town in the district of Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, Ashfield, four miles west of Mansfield, from the Derbyshire border and ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, and died at

Mansfield Woodhouse Mansfield Woodhouse is a town and civil parish in the Mansfield District, Mansfield district of Nottinghamshire, England. It is about north of Mansfield, along the main A60 road in a wide, low valley between the Rivers River Maun, Maun and Rive ...

, Nottinghamshire. Barnes was an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are cons ...

. As a right-handed

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 ...

, he scored 15,425 career runs in 459

first-class matches First class (or 1st class, Firstclass) generally implies a high level of service, importance or quality. Specific uses of the term include: Books and comics * ''First Class'', a comic strip in ''The Dandy'' (1983-1998) * ''X-Men: First Class' ...

at an average of 23.19 runs per completed

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

with a highest score of 160 as one of 21 centuries. He was a right-arm fast-medium bowler and took 902 first-class

wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

s at an average of 17.12 runs per wicket. He took five wickets in an innings 45 times with best figures of 8/64. He achieved

ten wickets in a match In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bow ...

ten times with a best return of 13/89. Barnes generally fielded in close catching positions, sometimes playing as

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

; he held 342 catches and completed 3 stumpings.

Early years

Born on 27 May 1852, Billy Barnes was mobile as a young man and became a professional cricketer in his teens. Having been born and raised in

, he moved to

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

when he was nineteen to coach the

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

players at

Worthy Down Camp MOD Worthy Down is a tri-service establishment in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It forms part of the wider Winchester Garrison and houses the headquarters of the Defence School of Logistics and Administration (DSLA), as well as the headquarter ...

. A couple of years later, in 1873, he was engaged by the Victoria Park Club in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. Barnes' elder brother,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, was a first-class cricketer who played for

in 1872, but he became ill with

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

in 1873 and died on 22 September. In 1874, Billy Barnes was with the Nottingham Amateurs club, based at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...

. This brought him into contact with the county club who offered him a playing contract. In the 1881 UK census, Barnes listed his profession as a cotton weaver. He was then aged 28 and living in Stoney Street, Sutton-in Ashfield, with his wife Eliza, aged 24, who was also born in Sutton-in-Ashfield. Barnes and Eliza later had a son, James (1886–1963), who also played first-class cricket; he made three appearances for Nottinghamshire between 1908 and 1910.

Cricket career

Barnes played for Nottinghamshire 257 times from 1875 until 1894. In all, he played in 459 first-class matches, including 21 Test matches. He went on three tours of Australia and one of North America.

First-class debut

Barnes was 23 when he made his first-class debut on 29 July 1875. His debut was for Nottinghamshire against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

in a three-day inter-county match at Trent Bridge. Gloucestershire, captained by

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

, won the toss and batted first. They were all out for 110 and Nottinghamshire reached 111/2 at close of play on the first day. On the second day, Nottinghamshire were all out for 177, a first

lead of 67. Barnes was number 9 in the batting order and scored 11. In their second innings, Gloucestershire were all out for 131. Barnes bowled two four-ball overs and conceded four

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

s but took no

s. Nottinghamshire, needing 65 to win, were hard-pressed and struggled to 48/5 at close of play. Barnes had batted at number 5 this time but was

run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, in which the fielding team put down the wicket of a batter who is outside their ground, usually because they are trying to score a run. Run out is governed by Law 38 of the laws of cricket. If ...

for only 1. On the third day, Nottinghamshire managed to score the remaining runs, reaching 66/7 to win by three wickets. Barnes played in eight first-class matches in 1875, scoring 145 runs with a highest innings of 45 and held five catches. He did not bowl again that season, or at all in 1876, but became a regular bowler from 1877.

''Wisden'' Cricketer of the Year

In 1890, Barnes was named as one of ''Wisden's'' Nine Great Batsmen.

Later years

Barnes last played for Nottinghamshire in 1894 and then joined the MCC ground staff at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

between 1895 and 1898. He stood as

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

in 14 first-class matches. Barnes was the

landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

of the Angel Inn in

during the 1890s. He died there in March 1899. Barnes' ''Wisden'' obituary said he was "one of the leading batsmen of his day from 1880 until 1892" and "for many seasons one of the best change bowlers in England". ''Wisden'' added that, as a batsman, Barnes preferred to attack the bowling and would score his runs quickly, his off-side shots (i.e., the

cut Cut or CUT may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** ...

and

drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

) being especially good. ''

The Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning ...

'' said in its obituary: "Taking (Barnes) as batsman and bowler together, it may safely be said (Nottinghamshire) never had a more valuable player".

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Billy 1852 births 1899 deaths All-England Eleven cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers England Test cricketers English cricket umpires English cricketers Lord Londesborough's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Players cricketers Players of the North cricketers R. Daft's XI cricketers Cricketers from Sutton-in-Ashfield Wisden Cricketers of the Year