A profile of Victor Barton by Dave Liverman

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Player:

VA Barton

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An attacking middle order batsman whose career was curtailed by ill-health - he was only 39 when he died, Victor Barton played a single Test. An Army man, he first played for Kent, and played a vital innings in the thrilling Kent victory over Nottinghamshire that produced a three-way Kent-Notts-Lancashire tie for the Championship in 1889. He however failed to establish himself in the Kent side, and then, like so many military men, played for Hampshire for a further eleven years. A powerful driver, he hit so hard on the on-side that Wisden's obituary relates that "fieldsmen who stood at mid-on had a wholesome dread of him". He played his single Test in 1892, a season in which England had two simultaneous touring teams, the other side being in Australia. He was also a useful bowler, taking 141 first-class wickets.

(Article: Copyright © 2003 Dave Liverman)