Dick Barlow
Encyclopedia
Richard Gorton Barlow (28 May 1851 in Barrow Bridge, Bolton
, Lancashire
, England
– 31 July 1919 in Stanley Park, Blackpool
, Lancashire, England) was a cricket
er who played for Lancashire
and England
. Barlow will be best remembered for his batting partnership with A N Hornby, which was immortalised in nostalgic poetry by Francis Thompson
.
. Barlow played one match for Derbyshire in the 1875 season
against a United North of England Eleven.
Barlow was 5 ft 8 inches tall and weighed approximately eleven stone. He was strong and sturdily built. Barlow was known for his defensive batting, which made it hard to dismiss him, and which earned him the nickname Stonewaller. On one occasion he scored no runs in a partnership of 45 with AN Hornby, who was dismissed for 44. Barlow was also a good bowler with much variation.
According to a (possibly apochryphal) story related by Alan Gibson
, Barlow was working as a railway porter when Hornby first encountered him. Hornby happened to see him batting against the bowling of the station-master, and asked if he might have a bowl himself. "Ay, do," was the reply. "He's been in for a fortnight."
, a poem called At Lord's by Francis Thompson
. In it Thompson remembers back watching Barlow and A N Hornby play for Lancashire through rose-tinted glasses. The first verse of the poem, which is repeated as the final verse is the best known:
It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,
Though my own red roses there may blow;
It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,
Though the red roses crest the caps, I know.
For the field is full of shades as I near a shadowy coast,
And a ghostly batsman plays to the bowling of a ghost,
And I look through my tears on a soundless-clapping host
As the run-stealers flicker to and fro,
To and fro:
Oh my Hornby and my Barlow long ago!
When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
Studds
, Steel, Read and Tylecote
return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates
with the urn, the urn;
And the rest coming home with the urn.
at the Oval
in 1882; and at Lord's, the Oval, and Old Trafford
in 1884 and 1886. He made no big score in these matches, but his partnership with Allan Steel was the turning point of the game at Lord's in 1884, and at Manchester, in 1886, his steadiness pulled England through when the Australian bowlers were in deadly form on a slightly crumbled wicket. Moreover he took seven wickets for 44 runs in Australia's second innings. In 1884 at Trent Bridge, for the North of England against the Australians, Barlow played the game of his life. He scored not out 10 and 101 and took ten wickets—four for six runs and six for 42. It is on record that when the North started their second innings on a slow and nasty wicket, Fred Spofforth
, Australia's Demon bowler said, "Give me the ball: they won't get more than 60". As events turned out they got 255, Barlow and Flowers putting on 158 runs together after five wickets had fallen for 53. At the end of that afternoon Barlow was a very happy man. Barlow paid three visits to Australia, going out with Alfred Shaw
and Arthur Shrewsbury
in 1881/1882, with the Hon. Ivo Bligh in 1882/3, and again with Shaw and Shrewsbury in 1886/1887. He played in every match of all three tours.
On the first of those tours, after scoring 75 at Sydney against New South Wales, a local wag presented Barlow with a commemorative belt. "I thought we had the champion sticker in Alec Bannerman," said the wag, "but you've fairly won the belt."
Barlow had a wife, Harriet, and a daughter, Eliza. He died 31 July 1919 in Stanley Park, Blackpool
, and is buried in Layton Cemetery
. On his tombstone is inscribed 'bowled at last'.
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
– 31 July 1919 in Stanley Park, Blackpool
Stanley Park, Blackpool
Stanley Park is a municipal park in the town of Blackpool on the Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire, England. It is the largest park in the town, bounded by a roughly circular perimeter of 2.2 miles and covering an area of...
, Lancashire, England) was a cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played for Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
and England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
. Barlow will be best remembered for his batting partnership with A N Hornby, which was immortalised in nostalgic poetry by Francis Thompson
Francis Thompson
Francis Thompson was an English poet and ascetic. After attending college, he moved to London to become a writer, but in menial work, became addicted to opium, and was a street vagrant for years. A married couple read his poetry and rescued him, publishing his first book, Poems in 1893...
.
Overview
Cricket was engrained in Barlow from an early age, and he went on to play for Lancashire for 20 years and continued to play at lower levels into his sixties. Before this he had left school aged fourteen to work in a printing office as an apprentice compositor. He was later an iron moulder with Dobson & Barlow in Bolton, and then in 1865 he moved to Derbyshire when his father got work at the Staveley Iron Works. It was for Staveley Iron Works Cricket Club that Barlow first played cricket, becoming a cricket professional with Farsley in Leeds in 1871, which was the year in which he first played for Lancashire. From 1873 to 1877 he was the professional for Saltaire in BradfordBradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
. Barlow played one match for Derbyshire in the 1875 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1875
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1875 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire played their fifth season. Nottinghamshire had played informal matches aggainst Derbyshire in previous seasons, and joined Lancashire and Kent to make a third County side playing first class matches...
against a United North of England Eleven.
Barlow was 5 ft 8 inches tall and weighed approximately eleven stone. He was strong and sturdily built. Barlow was known for his defensive batting, which made it hard to dismiss him, and which earned him the nickname Stonewaller. On one occasion he scored no runs in a partnership of 45 with AN Hornby, who was dismissed for 44. Barlow was also a good bowler with much variation.
According to a (possibly apochryphal) story related by Alan Gibson
Alan Gibson
Norman Alan Stanley Gibson was an English journalist, writer and radio broadcaster, best known for his work in connection with cricket, though he also sometimes covered football and rugby union...
, Barlow was working as a railway porter when Hornby first encountered him. Hornby happened to see him batting against the bowling of the station-master, and asked if he might have a bowl himself. "Ay, do," was the reply. "He's been in for a fortnight."
At Lord's
Barlow is immortalised in one of the best-known pieces of cricket poetryCricket poetry
-Poetry:The sport of cricket has inspired much poetry, most of which romanticises the sport.-At Lord's:Francis Thompson wrote the following poem, At Lord's:-Poetry:...
, a poem called At Lord's by Francis Thompson
Francis Thompson
Francis Thompson was an English poet and ascetic. After attending college, he moved to London to become a writer, but in menial work, became addicted to opium, and was a street vagrant for years. A married couple read his poetry and rescued him, publishing his first book, Poems in 1893...
. In it Thompson remembers back watching Barlow and A N Hornby play for Lancashire through rose-tinted glasses. The first verse of the poem, which is repeated as the final verse is the best known:
It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,
Though my own red roses there may blow;
It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,
Though the red roses crest the caps, I know.
For the field is full of shades as I near a shadowy coast,
And a ghostly batsman plays to the bowling of a ghost,
And I look through my tears on a soundless-clapping host
As the run-stealers flicker to and fro,
To and fro:
Oh my Hornby and my Barlow long ago!
The Ashes urn
Barlow took part in the original Ashes match and is commemorated by the poem pasted on the side of the urn:When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
Studds
Studd brothers
The famous Studd brothers, Sir John Edward Kynaston, George and Charles , were Victorian gentleman cricketers; they were educated at Eton and Cambridge. They all represented Eton in the Eton v Harrow annual needle match and represented Cambridge at cricket...
, Steel, Read and Tylecote
Edward Tylecote
Edward Ferdinando Sutton Tylecote - cricketer....
return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates
Billy Bates
Willie Bates, known as Billy was an English all-round cricketer. Excellent with both bat and ball, Bates scored over 10,000 first-class runs, took more than 870 wickets and was always reliable in the field...
with the urn, the urn;
And the rest coming home with the urn.
Test career
Barlow played seven times for England against Australia in England: in the match which gave rise to the AshesThe Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
at the Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in 1882; and at Lord's, the Oval, and Old Trafford
Old Trafford (cricket)
Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...
in 1884 and 1886. He made no big score in these matches, but his partnership with Allan Steel was the turning point of the game at Lord's in 1884, and at Manchester, in 1886, his steadiness pulled England through when the Australian bowlers were in deadly form on a slightly crumbled wicket. Moreover he took seven wickets for 44 runs in Australia's second innings. In 1884 at Trent Bridge, for the North of England against the Australians, Barlow played the game of his life. He scored not out 10 and 101 and took ten wickets—four for six runs and six for 42. It is on record that when the North started their second innings on a slow and nasty wicket, Fred Spofforth
Fred Spofforth
Frederick Robert "Fred" Spofforth , also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century and was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a test hat-trick in 1879...
, Australia's Demon bowler said, "Give me the ball: they won't get more than 60". As events turned out they got 255, Barlow and Flowers putting on 158 runs together after five wickets had fallen for 53. At the end of that afternoon Barlow was a very happy man. Barlow paid three visits to Australia, going out with Alfred Shaw
Alfred Shaw
Alfred Shaw was an eminent Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings . He who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888...
and Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury was an English cricketer, and rugby football administrator, who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888, and who was widely rated as competing with W. G...
in 1881/1882, with the Hon. Ivo Bligh in 1882/3, and again with Shaw and Shrewsbury in 1886/1887. He played in every match of all three tours.
On the first of those tours, after scoring 75 at Sydney against New South Wales, a local wag presented Barlow with a commemorative belt. "I thought we had the champion sticker in Alec Bannerman," said the wag, "but you've fairly won the belt."
Epilogue
Near the end of his life Barlow was quoted in the Manchester Guardian: "I don't think any cricketer has enjoyed his cricketing career better than I have done, and if I had my time to come over again I should certainly be what I have been all my life - a professional cricketer".Barlow had a wife, Harriet, and a daughter, Eliza. He died 31 July 1919 in Stanley Park, Blackpool
Stanley Park, Blackpool
Stanley Park is a municipal park in the town of Blackpool on the Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire, England. It is the largest park in the town, bounded by a roughly circular perimeter of 2.2 miles and covering an area of...
, and is buried in Layton Cemetery
Layton Cemetery
Layton Cemetery is a graveyard located at Talbot Road in Blackpool, Lancashire in England. It was opened in 1873 when Blackpool parish church was replete with burying. The site encompasses , having being regularly expanded during its history. It is administered by Blackpool Council...
. On his tombstone is inscribed 'bowled at last'.