Eddie Barlow

Eddie Barlow

Barlow in 1977
Personal information
Born	(1940-08-12)12 August 1940 Pretoria,Transvaal
Died	30 December 2005(2005-12-30)(aged 65) Jersey
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
International information
National side	South Africa
Test debut (cap205)	8 December 1961 vNew Zealand
Last Test	10 March 1970 vAustralia
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA Matches 30 283 99 Runs scored 2,516 18,212 2,983 Batting average 45.74 39.16 31.73 100s/50s 6/15 43/86 3/22 Top score 201 217 186 Ballsbowled 3,021 31,930 5,010 Wickets 40 571 161 Bowling average 34.05 24.14 18.08 5 wickets in innings 1 16 2 10 wickets in match 0 2 0 Best bowling 5/85 7/24 6/33 Catches/stumpings 35/– 335/– 43/–
Source:CricketArchive,3 December 2020

Edgar John Barlow(12 August 1940 – 30 December 2005) was aSouth Africancricketer(an all rounder). Barlow was born inPretoria,Transvaal,South Africa, and playedfirst-class cricketforTransvaalandEastern Provincefrom 1959–60 to 1967–68 before moving toWestern Provincefor the seasons from 1968–69 to 1980–81. During this time he also played three seasons with Derbyshire in the English County Championship from 1976 – 1978. He completed his first-class career inBolandin 1982–83. Barlow was named as one of the sixSouth African Cricket Annualplayers of the year in 1962.

The bespectacled Barlow was both a popular and easily recognisable figure in South African cricket from the 1960s onwards. A prodigious run-maker and frequent wicket-taker, he was one of the leading all-rounders on the world stage in the 1960s. According toLouis Duffus,Barlow "did more than anyone else to break down the timid defensive tactics which for so many years kept South Africa a second-rate cricket country".

He was nicknamed "Bunter" because of his supposed resemblance toBilly Bunter.A stand atNewlands Cricket Groundwas to have been named after Barlow but due to opposition from some of the voting clubs it has been "put on hold".

Early life and career

Barlow was educated atPretoria Boys High Schooland theUniversity of the Witwatersrandand played cricket for the South African Schools XI andSouth African Universities.He made his first-class debut for Transvaal B against Griqualand West in 1959–60, scoring 72 batting at number four and not bowling.

He began bowling in first-class matches in 1960–61 when he was promoted to the main Transvaal side. He hit his first century that season, 110 not out against North-Eastern Transvaal in the final match of the season, a match in which he also took five wickets.

He toured England with the youngFezelasteam in 1961; he was a last-minute replacement forDavid Pithey,who had had to withdraw. Opening the batting for the first time, Barlow hit 36, 22 and 110 in his two first-class matches.

Test career

Barlow played 30TestsforSouth Africa,never missing a match between his debut in the First Test against New Zealand in 1961–62 and South Africa's isolation after the series against Australia in 1969–70. In 1963–64 he became the first South African player to make a century in his first Test match against Australia. He scored 603 runs in the series including a double century atAdelaide.

DuringEngland's1964–65 tour of South Africa, Barlow became embroiled in controversy in the third Test at Newlands after he survived a bat-pad chance when England bowlerFred Titmusthought he had had Barlow caught byPeter Parfittin the gully. It was already an ill-tempered series, and when Barlow went on to complete his hundred it was little recognised by the England players. Instead, whenTony Pitheyreached his half-century shortly afterwards, the England players went overboard in their congratulations to him, seemingly to make a point about Barlow's behaviour. The local South African papers attacked England for this, and later in the same match, English batsmanKen Barringtoncaused a greater furore when he walked despite not being given out by the same umpire that had not given Barlow out.

In addition to his 30 official Tests, Barlow also played in 5 matches for the Rest of the World side thattoured England in 1970that were originally designated as Test matches, though they were later stripped of Test status.In the fourth of these "Tests" at Headingley he achieved what was then the 17thhat-trick;after a further dot ball, Barlow took another wicket to make it four wickets in five balls.Barlow finished with first-innings figures of 7 for 64, which would have been his best Test figures, and match figures of 12 for 142, which would have been his only 10-wicket Test match haul.

Barlow's last official Test series was South Africa's 4–0 whitewashing ofAustraliain 1969–70. He was selected for the tours ofEngland in 1970andAustralia in 1971–72,but both tours were cancelled in the face of anti-apartheidprotests.

World Series Cricket

WhenKerry Packerbegan hisWorld Series Crickettournament in 1977–78, it gave a new avenue for the leading South African cricketers to play international cricket. Barlow was signed up for both the 1977–78 and 1978–79 seasons in which the tournament ran, and captained theWSC Cavaliersside which played in many non-SuperTest matches.

Derbyshire

In 1976 Eddie went to Derbyshire as the overseas professional and took over the captaincy halfway through his first season. His methods were revolutionary for the times, but he took the team to a final in theBenson & Hedges Cupat Lord's in the1978 season.

Post-retirement

After his retirement, Barlow became more active in espousing his liberal views against theapartheidpolicy then in place in his homeland. He had already stood for the liberalProgressive Federal Partyat a parliamentary election for the Simonstown seat in 1980, losing by only 1000 votes.

Barlow took up a post as Director of the South African Sports Office in London and afterwards he became a cricket coach. He was appointed coach at Gloucestershire but due to his father's death, he had to leave after two seasons. He coached Orange Free State and then Transvaal. He then became the first coach of the newly formed Super Juice Academy which was based in the Western Cape and was a feeder for Western Province and Boland cricket.

In 1996 he acquired a wine farm in the Robertson region of the Western Cape which he named "Windfall" because he and his wife considered they bought it at a good price. From concentrating on that, he was lured back to Griqualand West to coach at Kimberley. He was then invited to become the national coach ofBangladeshin 1999 and helped put together the plans that enabled the country to achieve official Test status the following year.

In 2000 he suffered a stroke in Bangladesh which put him initially in intensive care and then a wheelchair. He was forced to sell the wine farm in 2001 to pay for medical bills that his insurer refused to pay. Later he moved to NorthWales,where he continued to coach locally at Marchwiel & Wrexham and also NE Wales Development squads. He was also involved with disabled cricket in Wales. Though he was not (as often erroneously stated) a full-time wheelchair user, he could only walk very slowly, so it was easier to get from A to B in the wheelchair, and for the days when he coached he used an electric scooter which was provided for him by the PCA. He died after abrain haemorrhagein Jersey on 30 December 2005, leaving his third wife a widow.

External links

• Eddie BarlowatESPNcricinfo