Eddie Barlow was, and remains, my cricket hero. He was the first man to really capture my imagination when, in 1970, he was a star in the Rest of the World side that toured England when his native South Africa's tour here was cancelled due to political pressure.
I was eleven years old, very small and wore glasses. Those glasses had, at least for me, ruined an embryonic football career in which I was my school goalkeeper. I was pretty good too, until I realised that I couldn't see too clearly and started mishandling and missing balls that I should have held. Contact lenses weren't an option, so I started to wear glasses. My sporting 'career' was ruined.
Or was it? Barlow wore glasses, yet looked a better player than most of those on show, scoring centuries, taking wickets and catching anything that went near him. Football might not have been an option, but cricket seemed a sport in which I could at least contribute, possibly even do well. Forty years on, I'm still playing, the influence still there.
I remember watching the matches in that summer of 1970 with my Dad, and his telling me that Barlow was the man we wanted at Derbyshire. It was a pipe dream, but a nice one for all that.
Six years later, Eddie Barlow did come to Derbyshire. Maybe a year or two too late - he was 36 when he joined us - as his batting had declined. An eye player, he often got out early, but in his three years at the club he played enough innings of merit to show what he was like at his peak, from 1964-70. The highlight was an innings of 217 against Surrey at Ilkeston, when he emerged from a spell of poor form by caning a very good attack. There were numerous fifties, especially in one day cricket and Barlow did enough, as a batsman, to earn respect.
As a bowler - or boweller as we call them - he was different class. If we needed a wicket, he generally got one. If he got one, he often got two or three quickly. His short, bustling run produced great variety and he seemed to get wickets with balls that other bowlers would see head for the boundary. Don't get me wrong though, Bunter could bowl plenty of the unplayable variety. If he beat the bat he would catch the batsman's eye and fix him with a stare. We weren't used to players with that level of confidence, but Barlow had the talent to back it up. Look how he demolished England at Headingley in 1970:
As a slip, he was brilliant. Watching Bob Taylor, Phil Sharpe and Eddie Barlow as close fielders was an education. Barlow missed little, though sadly dropped an easy one in our Lords final when little went right and a win would have set the seal on an era. Yet it was as a captain that he entered legend. He got the players fitter than ever before and inspired them to deeds that few thought possible. Harry Cartwright, Tony Borrington, Colin Tunnicliffe and Alan Hill all became good county players under Barlow's tutelage. Few games were lost without a battle, as late order revivals by us and implausible batting collapses by opponents combined to revitalise our fortunes. Fielding errors were punished by the Barlow basilisk stare, but they were few and far between. Under Barlow, Derbyshire became a very good fielding side, one of the best until the current side. As Mike Hendrick once put it, if someone hit the ball into the next county, we could fetch it back faster than anyone...
Barlow also introduced Peter Kirsten to the club - not to mention Allan Lamb and Garth Le Roux. In 1977, Kirsten scored three successive centuries for the Seconds, before 'failing' with only 90... John Wright also made early appearances in his time at the club, so it is safe to say that Barlow could spot a cricketer.
It was a sad day when he decided to leave, but time waits for no man and there were business interests back home. Sadder still was news of his later illness and subsequent death. People talk about influential cricketers and their respective merits, but I saw Eddie Barlow and he is still the benchmark by which others are judged.
There are two sports headlines that will live with me to my dying day.
"Rams sign Dave Mackay" was one.
"South African legend Barlow joins Derbyshire" was the other.
I've just had goosebumps typing that last one. I hope I have them again someday, but that's a hard act to follow.
nice post
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