Ken Barrington - Personality

Personality

In looks he was easily distinguishable from the crowd, his black crinkling hair neatly cut, telling of his services background; his hawk's eyes, his shrewdness, his Roman nose, and jutting jaw, his fierce competitiveness; his hairy forearms, expansive shoulders and deep voice, his physical strength; his infectious laugh, his sense of humour, and his craggy smiling face revealing a kindness and sensitivity that accompanied his more resolute qualities.

Thanks to his army upbringing Barrington was very neat in his dress and carefully ironed and packed his clothes, and took great care of his cricket equipment. While waiting to bat he would watch the play or prowl the dressing room with a cigarette and would reflect with another cigarette after his dismissal. He rarely drank and preferred to retire early, especially on nights preceded match days. He was brought into cricket when social class and the hierarchy between amateur and professional was still the norm and retained some degree of politeness to his superiors, even at the end of his career. At home he could ill afford to hire mechanics or decorators and as a result become an accomplished car-repairman for his friends and colleagues, his own car was always kept spotless and in perfect working order, and was a keen DIY man. He was always careful with his money and frequently called up the management of a hotel if the room was not up to standard and argued if they charged too much. Barrington was a well known sayer of malapropisms such as; "If you pitch it there you put the batsman in two-mans land", "That was good bowling in anyone's cup of tea", "The press went through the food like a swarm of lotuses" and "high-philosophy bullets".