Robert William "Bob" Barber (born 26 September 1935) is a former English

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 who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

from 1954 to

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. He also played 28

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

es 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 ...

. He was named as one of the five

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. An outstanding schoolboy cricketer at Ruthin School, Barber initially struggled to gain a place whilst at Cambridge after making his debut in 1955. Scoring 1000 runs for the first time in 1959, Barber was made captain of Lancashire. Hampered by an intrusive committee and hostile crowd, Barber was perceived as not making the best of his own abilities, particularly as a leg spinner, though in a team boasting Test leg spinner Tommy Greenhough and useful allrounders in Grieves and Booth, both of whom were wrist spinners, Barber found it difficult to earn a place. He was replaced by

Joe Blackledge Joseph Frederick Blackledge (15 April 1928 – 19 March 2008) was a first-class cricketer who played for Lancashire. He played for just one season – 1962 – captaining the team as an amateur in the year before the players and gentlemen disti ...

in 1962, who met with no greater success as the county endured a difficult season. Joining Warwickshire, Barber was encouraged to play his shots and began to play regularly for England as an opening batsman. His greatest innings, and his only Test century, was made in the Third Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1965–66. He made 185 off 255 balls and added 234 in even time with

Geoff Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...

for the first wicket. It remains the highest score by an Englishman on the opening day of an Ashes Test. E.W. Swanton wrote:

Often in bleak moments do I cast back to Bob Barber's 185 in front of 40,000 on that sunny Friday in January '66. He batted without chance for five hours, starting decorously enough and then hitting the ball progressively harder and with a superb disdain to every corner of the field. One recalls the exceptional vigour of his driving and how he brought his wrists into the cut, making room for the stroke. It made blissful watching to English eyes – to one pair in particular, for by a wonderful chance father Barber had flown in from home that very day.p138, E.W. Swanton, ''Swanton in Australia, with MCC 1946–1975'', Fontana, 1977

In 1969 he retired from county cricket although he appeared in the

John Player League The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect large numbers of matches being played on days ...

until 1971. Prominent in the early years of the Gillette Cup, he made little impression in the 40-over game. After retiring from cricket, Barber went into business and lives in Switzerland.

Notes

References

* ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

''. Editions for 1961, 62 and 63 * ''

Playfair Cricket Monthly ''Playfair Cricket Monthly'' was a monthly British cricket magazine that ran from April 1960 to April 1973, when it was absorbed by ''The Cricketer''. Its comprehensive statistical content was taken on by ''The Cricketer Quarterly''. It was edited ...

'' 1965

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Bob 1935 births Living people Cambridge University cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1946 to 1968 English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains Warwickshire cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year People from Withington People educated at Ruthin School Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Cheshire cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers