Role
Barnes played in four of the five Tests as a right-handed opening batsman, partnering the left-handed Morris, although he batted at No. 6 in the Third Test due to his rib injury. Three opening batsmen were taken on the tour, Brown being the third. During the tour matches, which were usually played consecutively with one or no days between fixtures, Bradman rotated the trio, generally to rest one from the match while the other two opened.N- Notable exceptions occurred in the first two Tests, the opening match against Worcestershire and the warm-up match against the MCC. In those matches, Australia fielded its first-choice team and as a result, Brown played out of position in the middle order while Morris and Barnes opened. An occasional leg spin bowler, Barnes delivered only 65.4 overs during the first-class matches, five of which were in Tests. He took two wickets, both outside the Test arena.
Barnes ended the first-class tour with 1,354 runs at 56.41 including three centuries, placing him fifth in the aggregates and sixth in the averages among the tourists. Barnes's form peaked in the Tests, scoring 329 runs at 82.25; among the Australians he ranked third in the aggregates and second in the averages.
An eccentric and strong-willed character who was not afraid to go against convention, Barnes stationed himself as close to the bat as possible when fielding at either forward short-leg or silly point. The tour report in the 1949 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack judged Barnes's fielding to be as important as his batting in the team’s success:
Probably a number of batsmen were sufficiently affected by his close attendance to cause them to lose concentration on the bowler running up, but equally important was the fact that the knowledge of his presence influenced opponents to avoid strokes in that direction. The Barnes demeanour in the field illustrated the general purposefulness of the Australians.However, Barnes received criticism for this approach, including from Fingleton, who fielded there during his playing career. A letter was published in English newspapers, questioning Bradman on whether Barnes's position was legitimate—the writer thought Barnes's close proximity yielded an unfair advantage over the batsmen. Bradman later touted Barnes as the best fieldsman he had seen in the position, while England skipper Yardley admitted Barnes had worried the home team's players. Fingleton said that if the position was unfair, then it was the umpires' duty to take action. He further said the batsmen should have tried to deter Barnes from standing so close by aiming shots at him, deeming the Australian to be "of great value in a nuisance capacity throughout the tour". After several near-misses, he was finally hit in the Third Test and missed two weeks of cricket, but he was not injured again after his resumption. Barnes took 19 catches for the season, although only one came in the Tests.
Read more about this topic: Sid Barnes With The Australian Cricket Team In England In 1948
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