Sid Barnes - Style and Personality

Style and Personality

Barnes gripped the bat very low on the handle and bent over so far in his stance that the knuckles of his right hand were level with his knees. He stood with his heels almost together and the toes of his left foot pointing toward extra cover, which left him open-chested when facing the bowler. A noticeable flourish in his backlift enabled him to follow the swinging delivery and play it late if necessary. His first movement was back and across the crease to cover the stumps from the view of the bowler, putting him in position to play the hook, leg glance, sweep and his favourite square cut shot.

Journalist Ray Robinson called Barnes the Artful Dodger of cricket, alluding to both his batting style and his off-field business dealings, and wrote that he, "... would rather steal a run like a pickpocket than hit an honest four with a straightforward stroke." Robinson summarised his safety-first approach in going so far back as the bowler delivered:

Though this routine made his play air-tight in one way, it simplified opposing captains' field-placing to curb his scoring, it left him with a back-foot addict's liability to go leg-before-wicket or be caught behind on either side, and it allowed his attackers to bowl their most awkward length ... he could have made more runs since the war as a stroke-player, and won popular backing as a candidate for the title of world's best batsman, instead of the austere distinction of looking the hardest Australian to get out.

David Frith wrote of Bill Brown's memories of Barnes as a person, and his controversial fielding:

'Bagga' Barnes was also Bill's room-mate, and his affection for his late lamented pal, a lovable rogue, was obvious. He recalled the furore over Barnes's provocative field positioning, extremely close at silly mid-on, and how criticism of his foot being too close to the mown pitch prompted him to plonk his boot a couple of feet into the forbidden territory – and a couple of feet more when the English crowd roared at him.

He was a part-time leg break bowler, taking 57 wickets in first-class cricket at a useful average of 32.21. Barnes's leg break spun very little, but he had a topspinner which hurried onto the batsman and yielded him many wickets. Barnes was also a substitute wicket-keeper and a versatile fieldsman. During his career, he was noted for his disaffection for cricket administrators and umpires. On the 1948 tour of England, after an Australian appeal was turned down by umpire Alec Skelding, he grabbed a stray dog and presented it to Skelding, stating: "Now all you want is a white stick". A complex character, Barnes, "... rarely forgave a slight or forgot a good turn. Stocky, with blue eyes and powerful wrists, he had a passion for physical fitness, and was an enthusiastic big-game fisherman and golfer".