Ken Barrington
Kenneth Frank Barrington, was an English international cricketer who played for the England cricket team and Surrey County Cricket Club in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional leg-spin bowler, known for his jovial good humour and long, defensive innings "batting with bulldog determination and awesome concentration". He is widely regarded as one of the best English batsmen of all time.
His batting improved with the quality of the opposition; he averaged 39.87 in the County Championship, 45.63 in first-class cricket, 58.67 in Test cricket and 63.96 against Australia. Of players with a completed career, only Don Bradman with his average of 99.94 made more than Barrington's 6,806 Test runs at a higher average, which is the seventh highest of batsmen who have made 1,000 Test runs, and the highest by a post-war England batsman. His 256 in the Fourth Test at Old Trafford in 1964 is the third highest score for England against Australia and the highest since the Second World War. Barrington twice made centuries in four successive Tests, and was the first England batsmen to make hundreds on all six traditional Test grounds: Old Trafford, Edgbaston, Headingley, Lord's, Trent Bridge and The Oval.
His Test career ended when he had a heart attack in Australia in 1968, even though he had several potentially fruitful years ahead of him. From 1975 to 1981 he was an England selector and a regular tour manager. He died from a second heart attack on 14 March 1981 during the Third Test at Bridgetown, Barbados, where he had made his maiden Test century 21 years before.
Early life
Family
Ken Barrington was the eldest child of Percy and Winifred Barrington and had two brothers, Roy and Colin, and a sister, Sheila. His father was a career soldier who served in the British Army for 28 years, 24 of them in the Royal Berkshire Regiment. Despite winning a row of medals for service around the world including the First World War Percy Barrington remained a private and when Ken was born was a batman in the officer's mess at Brock Barracks in Reading, Berkshire. His children grew up in the barracks and led a rather spartan life during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Percy remained at Brock Barracks in the Second World War, left the Army in 1947 and took up work as a watchman for Handley Page. When Ken became a professional cricketer he often gave his family tickets for the Oval so they could see him play.Boyhood cricket
Percy Barrington was a keen cricketer, played for the regimental cricket team as an all-rounder and taught all his children how to play, using a piece of wood as a cricket bat. Ken attended Wilson Central primary school. When he moved to Katesgrove Secondary school at the age of 11 he joined the school cricket team, as a batsman and fast bowler. In one early game he opened the bowling with Ray Reeves and dismissed the opposition for 10 runs in 15 minutes. In 1945 Barrington left school aged 14 and took up work as a motor mechanic in Reading, Fred Titmus saying "he could drive anything from a tank to a scooter".After a year he joined Reading Cricket Club as the assistant groundsman, a job that allowed him unlimited opportunity to practice cricket. It is here that he learned the art of leg-spin. His old boss told him "You will never make a living in cricket". Barrington played for the White Hart Hotel XI on Sundays and the Reading Wednesday XI where he was spotted by the ex-England and Surrey batsman Andy Sandham. Sandham invited him to play for the Surrey Colts at the age of 16. Barrington took 5/43 and made 4 not out in his first game and became a regular player in their Saturday cricket matches. Here he came under the tutorage of Andrew Kempton, a friend of Sir Jack Hobbs. He took 30 wickets at an average of 13, but batted down the order.
Surrey groundstaff
In August 1947, Barrington was asked to join the groundstaff of the prestigious Surrey County Cricket Club at the Kennington Oval in South London for the following season. From April 1948, he commuted to London by railway for his training, having yet to see a first-class cricket match. The Chief Coach was Andy Sandham who thought his leg-spin bowling lacked accuracy and made him concentrate on his batting. Alec Bedser predicted that Barrington was a future Test player and Sandham later stated that Barrington was his best pupil. He worked on preparing the vast Oval ground for first-class cricket and played for the Surrey Club and Ground cricket team, though still down the order. In the 1949 season he only had time to play one game, making 52 against Kew, before he was called up for National Service.National Service
Barrington served as a Lance-Corporal in the Wiltshire Regiment stationed in Germany. He grew from to during this time and he was encouraged to pursue sports. Apart from cricket, he represented his battalion at football, won the battalion boxing championship and a small arms competition at the Mons Officer Cadet School. His leg-spin was helped by the matting wickets used by the British Army cricket team. As he was the only NCO in the team, when they played the officers travelled in staff cars and Barrington by himself in an army truck. Barrington had strong army connections and remained in the Territorial Army after his National Service ended in 1950.Early career 1950–58
Surrey 1950–54
On his discharge in August 1950 Barrington returned to Surrey and professional coaching. In May 1951 he made his first century batting against Kenley at number seven and was promoted to the top order. In July he added 64 and 194 not out against the Surrey Colts and Barrington started to play for the Surrey Second XIa minor county team. In 1952 he became a star batsman, making 1,097 runs at 57.73 including 157 not out and 151 in successive games against Devon County Cricket Club and was mentioned in Wisden.Stuart Surridge became captain of Surrey in 1952 and led them to their first of a record seven successive County Championships.. In 1953 Barrington joined this formidable Surrey team including Alec and Eric Bedser, Peter May, Jim Laker, Tony Lock, Peter Loader and Arthur McIntyre. Their bowling line up was of Test class and it was for his growing batting skills that the young Barrington was called up. He made his first-class cricket debut against the Marylebone Cricket Club in their traditional match against the champions at Lord's at the start of the cricket season. Barrington batted at number six and was stumped by Godfrey Evans off Alan Oakman for 7 in the first innings and caught off Oakman for 17 in the second as Surrey lost a low scoring match by 107 runs. His second match began the next day against the 1953 Australians and he was dismissed by Ken Archer for 10 and 4 in another defeat, this time by an innings and 76 runs. Richie Benaud recalled that he was a very correct batsman, but Barrington was returned to the Second XI.
He played only a few games in the County Championship and top-scored with 81 against Worcestershire. Surrey won without his help in 1953, but in July 1954 they were in severe trouble, in eighth place and 46 points behind the leaders Yorkshire. After a few fifties Barrington made his maiden first-class century against Gloucestershire at the Oval. Surrey were 149/7 when he was joined by Jim Laker in a partnership of 198, Barrington 108 not out and Laker 113. In the second innings he came in at 39/4 made 68 and Surrey won by 145 runs. Surrey won 10 of their next 12 games and the Championship. Barrington made 89 against Essex in a game where nobody else passed 50 and 102 against the Pakistanis. The arrival of Barrington and Mickey Stewart was seen as the turning point in Surrey's fortunes and E.M. Wellings wrote that he was the best young batting prospect since Denis Compton, adding "He is a brilliant strokemaker and now has such a sound defence that he is as convincing on the wet wickets as on the dry.
Marriage
Ken Barrington met his future wife Ann Cozens at a dance in Reading in 1952. She was a secretary for the local Education Department, taught at Sunday School and played netball. He proposed to her on a train to Reading and her father agreed to the marriage if they saved £500. As a result, they married on 6 March 1954 and honeymooned in Devon until Ken was called up for the Territorial Army at Salisbury. They remained happily married for 27 years until his death. As first-class cricketers rarely had employment in the winter Barrington worked for British Rail, a firm of solicitors and at a job selling perfumes and carpets. They first lived with Ann's parents, but in 1956 bought their own house in Mitcham in Surrey near the Oval, where he found work nearby with a firm of accountants and Ann at a travel agents.South Africa 1955
If he should not do conspicuously well and the established players become available, he is almost bound, temporarily at least, to join the very long list of youthful cricketers prematurely tried for England and promptly discarded.
– E. W. Swanton
In 1955 Surrey won their first 9 matches and Surridge's vice-captain Peter May succeeded Len Hutton as captain of England. Barrington made 135 not out against Lancashire and 126 against Nottinghamshire, which won him his county cap. Now established in the Surrey team he was called up for the First Test against South Africa at Trent Bridge, hearing the news when a crowd cheered him while batting in a charity match. He batted at number 4, replacing Colin Cowdrey who was unable to play. Barrington made a duck and though England won by an innings he felt isolated from the England regulars who he barely knew. He was kept in the side for the Second Test at Lord's, coming in at 30/3 in the first innings and making 34, top-scoring in England's 133, but looked uncomfortable on a green pitch against the fast bowling of Peter Heine. In the second innings Barrington and Denis Compton added 40 runs, but he was out for 18. Even though England won, Cowdrey was now available and so Barrington was dropped. Returning to Surrey he made 73 out of 171 against Middlesex after coming in at 6/4 and helped the County to their fourth successive Championship. He was voted "Young Cricketer of the Year" by the Cricket Writers Club and was chosen for the 1955–56 Marylebone Cricket Club tour of Pakistan.