Tournament did not go well and was not repeated. First of all, the weather that summer was very poor and three of the nine Test matches had to be abandoned due to rain. Secondly, as the Daily Telegraph pointed out at the time: “Nine Tests provide a surfeit of cricket, and contests between Australia and South Africa are not a great attraction to the British public.” Finally, although England were able to field a very capable side, the other two countries were under strength.
South Africa were not the force they had been a few years earlier when they had beaten England. They still had two world class batsman in A.D. Nourse and Herbie Taylor but many of their teammates struggled in the English conditions. Australia were not able to field their best side. In a forerunner to the Packer crisis of the late 1970s, the Australian players were in dispute with the Australian Cricket Board. Six of their top players, including Clem Hill and Victor Trumper, didn’t make the trip.
England, led by C.B. Fry, won the Tournament winning four Tests and drawing the other two. Barnes continued where he had left off in Australia. He took an incredible 34 wickets in three games against South Africa. Test matches in England at the time wereplayed over three days only. This fact, combined with the poor weather, meant that England’s first two games with Australia were draws. In the deciding match against Australia at the Oval, Barnes took 5 for 30 in the first innings off twenty-seven overs to once again blow away the Australian batsmen. This was to be a ‘timeless Test’ to ensure a result but England wrapped up victory on the fourth day.
Aside from the exploits of Sydney Barnes, the most notable incident of the series was Australia’s Jimmy Matthews taking two hat tricks in the same Test match. He got one in each innings of the opening match against South Africa. This is the only time that a bowler has taken two hat tricks in the same match in Test history, a record that seems likely to remain unbroken. Both hat tricks were taken on the same day after South Africa followed on. Amazingly, Matthews took no other wickets in the match. Another curiosity is that the third victim in each case was débutant wicket-keeper Tommy Ward. The only ‘King Pair’ achieved on début in Test cricket, an unenviable record.
In Wisden’s review of the 1912 season, Barnes was described as “the best bowler in the world.” It continued “The skill with which he broke both ways while keeping a perfect length all the time, was wonderful.” In those days, Wisden was very much part of the cricket establishment and over the years it had been reluctant to give full credit to Barnes for his achievements. Barnes’s stubbornness and his sense of self worth shine through in his every confrontation. He was the Keir Hardie of cricket, sixty years ahead of his time in his rejection of the class system that dominated the English cricket world. This naturally did not go down well with the cricket authorities. Now though, Wisden had been finally won over.
Barnes had achieved great things and all on his own terms. 140 Test wickets at an average of just under 18. A major contributionto winning the Ashes back for England. Player of the Tournament in the first ‘world championship’. There was one performance left which would confirm his divine status. The tour to South Africa in the winter of 1913/14.
With only three countries playing Test cricket, sometimes there were no Test matches during a summer and that was the case in 1913. So Barnes went back to playing for Porthill Park and Staffordshire. He did however play regularly, and with great success, in the Gentlemen v Players games. These were usually in front of full houses at Lords or the Oval and deemed by Barnes to be a fitting stage for his talents. These games may seem anachronistic nowadays but they did provide Barnes with an opportunity to play first-class cricket and he probably enjoyed putting one over
South Africa were not the force they had been a few years earlier when they had beaten England. They still had two world class batsman in A.D. Nourse and Herbie Taylor but many of their teammates struggled in the English conditions. Australia were not able to field their best side. In a forerunner to the Packer crisis of the late 1970s, the Australian players were in dispute with the Australian Cricket Board. Six of their top players, including Clem Hill and Victor Trumper, didn’t make the trip.
England, led by C.B. Fry, won the Tournament winning four Tests and drawing the other two. Barnes continued where he had left off in Australia. He took an incredible 34 wickets in three games against South Africa. Test matches in England at the time wereplayed over three days only. This fact, combined with the poor weather, meant that England’s first two games with Australia were draws. In the deciding match against Australia at the Oval, Barnes took 5 for 30 in the first innings off twenty-seven overs to once again blow away the Australian batsmen. This was to be a ‘timeless Test’ to ensure a result but England wrapped up victory on the fourth day.
Aside from the exploits of Sydney Barnes, the most notable incident of the series was Australia’s Jimmy Matthews taking two hat tricks in the same Test match. He got one in each innings of the opening match against South Africa. This is the only time that a bowler has taken two hat tricks in the same match in Test history, a record that seems likely to remain unbroken. Both hat tricks were taken on the same day after South Africa followed on. Amazingly, Matthews took no other wickets in the match. Another curiosity is that the third victim in each case was débutant wicket-keeper Tommy Ward. The only ‘King Pair’ achieved on début in Test cricket, an unenviable record.
In Wisden’s review of the 1912 season, Barnes was described as “the best bowler in the world.” It continued “The skill with which he broke both ways while keeping a perfect length all the time, was wonderful.” In those days, Wisden was very much part of the cricket establishment and over the years it had been reluctant to give full credit to Barnes for his achievements. Barnes’s stubbornness and his sense of self worth shine through in his every confrontation. He was the Keir Hardie of cricket, sixty years ahead of his time in his rejection of the class system that dominated the English cricket world. This naturally did not go down well with the cricket authorities. Now though, Wisden had been finally won over.
Barnes had achieved great things and all on his own terms. 140 Test wickets at an average of just under 18. A major contributionto winning the Ashes back for England. Player of the Tournament in the first ‘world championship’. There was one performance left which would confirm his divine status. The tour to South Africa in the winter of 1913/14.
With only three countries playing Test cricket, sometimes there were no Test matches during a summer and that was the case in 1913. So Barnes went back to playing for Porthill Park and Staffordshire. He did however play regularly, and with great success, in the Gentlemen v Players games. These were usually in front of full houses at Lords or the Oval and deemed by Barnes to be a fitting stage for his talents. These games may seem anachronistic nowadays but they did provide Barnes with an opportunity to play first-class cricket and he probably enjoyed putting one over
Similar Books
