William "Barlow" Carkeek (17 October 1878 – 20 February 1937) was an Australian sportsman who played

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

for Australia and

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

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, as well as playing Australian rules football in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) for

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport * Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United Ki ...

"Barlow"

Carkeek, generally known otherwise as "Bill", earned the nickname "Barlow" among the Australian cricketing community, because his batting style was reminiscent of

Dick Barlow Richard Gorton Barlow (28 May 1851 – 31 July 1919) was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England. Barlow is best remembered for his batting partnership with A N Hornby, which was immortalised in nostalgic poetry by Francis Thompson. He ...

, the notoriously defensive opening batsman 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 ...

and

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 ...

Cricket

Principally played as a wicketkeeper, "Barlow" Carkeek was also a stolid, defensive left-hand batsman. He played for Victoria for 10 years from 1903 to 1914, and was rated as steady rather than spectacular. He toured England in 1909 as the second wicketkeeper to

Sammy Carter Hanson "Sammy" Carter (15 March 1878 – 8 June 1948) was a cricketer who played for Australia national cricket team, Australia and New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales. Career Carter attended Sydney Boys High School in 1894. A wicket ...

and returned in 1912 as first choice on the tour that was blighted by the dispute between Australia's leading Test players and the

Australian Board of Control Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...

and the consequent unavailability of many players. It was on this tour that he played his six Test matches, three each against England and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in the Triangular Tournament. He scored only 16 runs and took just six catches.

Australian rules football

A blacksmith by trade, Carkeek also played 26 top-class Australian rules football games, kicking 8 goals, for

in the

(VFL) from 1903 to 1905. He also played for Richmond in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFA) before and after his stint with Essendon. He left Essendon after the fourth home-and-away match of the 1905 VFL season; he returned to Richmond, and played in the 1905 Richmond winning VFA Grand Final Team.

Death

Carkeek died as the result of the injuries he sustained when he was struck by a motor car when crossing Point Nepean Road, opposite Hurlingham Park,

East Brighton Brighton East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 12 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Bayside, Bayside and Cit ...

, in heavy rain during a thunderstorm on 20 February 1937. Taken by ambulance to

the Alfred Hospital The Alfred Hospital, also known as The Alfred or Alfred Hospital, is a leading tertiary teaching hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. It is the second oldest hospital in Victoria, and the oldest Melbourne hospital still operating on its original si ...

, he died several hours later. He was buried on 22 February 1937 in the Cheltenham Memorial Park (Wangara Road).Funeral Notices: Carkeek, ''The Age'', (Monday, 22 February 1937), p. 1.
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Notes

Sources

W. Karkeek Killed: Noted 'Keeper, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Wednesday, 24 February 1937), p. 8.
* Hogan, P., ''The Tigers of Old'', Richmond FC, (Melbourne), 1996. * Maplestone, M., ''Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996'', Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996.

External links

* *
William "Barlow" Carkeek
at The VFA Project. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carkeek, Barlow 1878 births 1937 deaths Australia Test cricketers Victoria cricketers Essendon Football Club players Richmond Football Club (VFA) players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Australian cricketers Cricketers from Victoria (Australia) Road incident deaths in Victoria (Australia) Pedestrian road incident deaths Wicket-keepers