Ted Barratt
Encyclopedia
Edward D'Oyley 'Ted' Barratt (21 April 1844 - 27 February 1891) was an English
cricket
er who played mainly for Surrey
in a first-class
career that lasted from 1872
to 1886
. A left-arm slow roundarm bowler with a remarkable capacity for drift, his most famous achievement was to take all ten wickets in an innings for the Players against the Australians
in 1878
. On three occasions, he took over 100 wickets in a season. His Wisden
obituarist wrote of his bowling, "At his best Barratt was certainly a very fine slow bowler, being able on certain wickets to get more work on the ball than almost any other cricketers of his generation."
by trade, Barratt's first engagement as a professional cricketer was at the Longsight club in Manchester
in 1870
and 1871
. He was taken on the Lord's
ground staff in 1872 and made his first-class
debut that same year with great success, taking 8/60 for the North against the South at Prince's Cricket Ground
in a fixture beginning on 16 May. He played twice more that season for North v. South, as well as in four games for MCC
, to whom Grace, taking a keen interest in his progress after first encountering him at Swindon
, had recommended him. In seven matches, he took 25 wickets at an average of 13.48, with five or more wickets in an innings three times. In spite of this success, his next first-class match was not until 1876
.
In 1873
, he was employed at Prince's Cricket Ground and, in 1874
, moved to the Surrey ground staff. In both 1874 and 1875
, he also played for his native Durham. He qualified for Surrey by residence in 1876, and played for them until 1885
.
In 13 first-class matches in 1876, he took 36 wickets at an average of 19.38, not particularly good given the generally poor pitches of the time. He had few pretensions as a batsman—although strong on the slog, he had a weak defence—but that season made his highest score of 67, the only time that he reached fifty.
He played in 18 matches in 1877
and was given more bowling, so that he finished with 92 wickets. His average, however was similar to the previous season—20.02.
He did much better in 1878. 20 matches brought him 135 wickets at 14.04. He took five or more wickets in an innings on 15 occasions and five times took 10 or more in a match. He appeared to take a particular liking to the touring Australians. Playing for Surrey against them, he returned innings figures of 8/58, at last improving on the 8/60 he had taken on debut back in 1872. But, later that season, he surpassed this. Appearing for the Players at The Oval
, on 2 September he returned innings figures of 10/43. The Australians nevertheless won by eight runs in a low-scoring affair: none of the four innings reached 100. The feat of taking 10 wickets in an innings against an Australian touring side was not repeated until Jim Laker
did so twice, once for Surrey and once for England, in 1956.
He lost form in 1879
, taking only 10 wickets at 31.50 in seven matches, and never represented the Players again, kept out by the likes of Alfred Shaw
and James Southerton
. He played only six times the following season, but his figures were much better: 29 wickets at 17.65.
The next four seasons were productive ones. In 1881
, 14 matches brought him 82 wickets at 19.57. ]The following year
was slightly better, with 15 matches producing 94 wickets at 16.93. 1883
was his most productive season: 21 matches, 148 wickets at an average of 15.90, with 18 five-wicket innings and six 10-wicket matches. He was not quite so effective in 1884
: the same number of matches as the previous year yielded him 121 wickets at 18.17.
1885 proved to be his final season with Surrey. In 10 matches, he managed only 15 wickets at 26.40 and was not selected for any fixtures after the middle of July.
"It was rather hard luck on Barratt," wrote Grace, "that when he represented Surrey the eleven was not only weak, but had very little fast bowling. In many matches he was kept on too long because there was no one good enough to relieve him, and the consequence was that the batsmen got set and hit him. Nothing disheartens a bowler so much; and these circumstances must be taken into consideration in forming an estimate of the good work he did for his county."
Barratt played only one further first-class match after leaving Surrey, turning out in July, 1886 for CI Thornton
's XI against the Australians
. Although he was no longer playing for Surrey, the county granted him a benefit match
at The Oval
in 1887
, the fixture against Yorkshire
.
during his playing career as this was part of the duties of senior professionals on the Oval staff. He was one of the umpires used in major matches during 1889 and 1890, standing in seventeen first class matches.
In January 1889, Barratt became the landlord of the Duchy Arms, a public house
not far from The Oval. Two years later, he died there from consumption
at the early age of 46 and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery
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...
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 mainly for Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
in a first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
career that lasted from 1872
1872 English cricket season
-Events:An experiment took place at Lord's to study the effects of covering the pitch before the start of a match, the first time this is known to have been tried.-External links:* -Bibliography:...
to 1886
1886 English cricket season
-Events:Somerset did not play any other first-class counties and dropped out of the Championship until 1891.Hampshire ceased to be a first-class county after years of difficult circumstances and poor results. They did play matches against Surrey and Sussex in 1886 but these matches are not...
. A left-arm slow roundarm bowler with a remarkable capacity for drift, his most famous achievement was to take all ten wickets in an innings for the Players against the Australians
Australian cricket team in England and North America in 1878
In 1878, an Australian cricket team made the inaugural first-class tour of England by a representative overseas side. The tour followed one made by an England cricket team to Australia in 1876/77, during which the first Test matches were played....
in 1878
1878 English cricket season
The 1878 English cricket season is remembered for the first official tour by an Australian team, although it played no Test Matches; and for the match that inspired a famous poem.-Champion County:* Middlesex, Nottinghamshire -Events:...
. On three occasions, he took over 100 wickets in a season. His Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
obituarist wrote of his bowling, "At his best Barratt was certainly a very fine slow bowler, being able on certain wickets to get more work on the ball than almost any other cricketers of his generation."
Bowling style
Standing 5'8" tall and weighing 11 st. 4 lbs, he spun a long way from leg and was especially effective against batsmen reluctant to use their feet. He had a deadly quicker ball, which went on with the arm, but his primary proclivity lay in floating the ball up to the bat, about a foot to the offside, and turning it a few inches away. WG Grace saw many "an impatient or thoughtless batsman 'spooned' in trying to hit"; indeed, even the "good" ones were prone to slashing wildly at it and often fell foul of the extra offside fieldsman that Barratt had in play. Grace gave Barratt little credit: "It was all owing to the eagerness of the batsman, who could not resist the temptation to hit out at everything off the wicket. A little thought would have shown that stepping back and cutting it, instead of hitting it on the rise, was the right way to treat it; or that quickness in running out and hitting before it pitched would have been equally effective." It is a mark of Barratt's respect for Grace and his brother EM that he never bothered with this ruse against them; indeed, he was often completely at their mercy, especially in the case of EM, who habitually destroyed his confidence.Playing career season by season
A plumberPlumber
A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable water, sewage, and drainage in plumbing systems. The term dates from ancient times, and is related to the Latin word for lead, "plumbum." A person engaged in fixing metaphorical "leaks" may also be...
by trade, Barratt's first engagement as a professional cricketer was at the Longsight club in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in 1870
1870 English cricket season
The 1870 English cricket season saw the first-class debut of WG Grace's Gloucestershire CCC.-Events:Gloucestershire CCC played its initial first-class match v. Surrey at Durdham Downs, near Bristol, on 2, 3 & 4 June.27, 28 June. "Cobden's Match"....
and 1871
1871 English cricket season
-Events:In Derbyshire's opening season the club played its initial first-class match v. Lancashire at Old Trafford on 26 & 27 May.Cambridgeshire CCC played only one match in the 1871 season and ceased to be a first-class county thereafter.-Leading batsmen:...
. He was taken on the Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
ground staff in 1872 and made his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut that same year with great success, taking 8/60 for the North against the South at Prince's Cricket Ground
Prince's Cricket Ground
Prince's Cricket Ground in Chelsea, London was a cricket ground, created by two brothers by the name of Prince, on which 37 first-class matches were played between 1872 and 1878. The ground was built on in 1883...
in a fixture beginning on 16 May. He played twice more that season for North v. South, as well as in four games for MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
, to whom Grace, taking a keen interest in his progress after first encountering him at Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
, had recommended him. In seven matches, he took 25 wickets at an average of 13.48, with five or more wickets in an innings three times. In spite of this success, his next first-class match was not until 1876
1876 English cricket season
The 1876 English cricket season saw WG Grace become the first player to score 2000 runs and take 100 wickets in a season: 2622 runs and 130 wickets in 26 matches.-Events:14 January. Formation of Essex CCC at a meeting in the Shire Hall, Chelmsford...
.
In 1873
1873 English cricket season
In the 1873 English cricket season, in only their fourth season as a first-class team, Gloucestershire was proclaimed joint Champion County by the media and went on to claim the still unofficial title four times in five seasons ....
, he was employed at Prince's Cricket Ground and, in 1874
1874 English cricket season
The 1874 English cricket season saw WG Grace become the first player to perform the “double” in an English season. In 21 first-class matches, he scored 1664 runs and took 140 wickets.-External sources:* -Annual reviews:...
, moved to the Surrey ground staff. In both 1874 and 1875
1875 English cricket season
-Events:* 18 August – formation of Somerset CCC by a team of amateurs at a meeting in Sidmouth, Devonshire, immediately after a match against a local side.-External sources:* -Annual reviews:...
, he also played for his native Durham. He qualified for Surrey by residence in 1876, and played for them until 1885
1885 English cricket season
The 1885 English cricket season was the third in succession in which Notts was proclaimed the champion county-Playing record :-External sources:* -Annual reviews:* James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual , Lillywhite, 1886...
.
In 13 first-class matches in 1876, he took 36 wickets at an average of 19.38, not particularly good given the generally poor pitches of the time. He had few pretensions as a batsman—although strong on the slog, he had a weak defence—but that season made his highest score of 67, the only time that he reached fifty.
He played in 18 matches in 1877
1877 English cricket season
The 1877 English cricket season followed the beginning of Test cricket in Australia in March.-Events:15 - 19 March. Australia v. England at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Afterwards recognised as the first-ever Test Match. Australia won by 45 runs with Charles Bannerman scoring 165*: the first Test...
and was given more bowling, so that he finished with 92 wickets. His average, however was similar to the previous season—20.02.
He did much better in 1878. 20 matches brought him 135 wickets at 14.04. He took five or more wickets in an innings on 15 occasions and five times took 10 or more in a match. He appeared to take a particular liking to the touring Australians. Playing for Surrey against them, he returned innings figures of 8/58, at last improving on the 8/60 he had taken on debut back in 1872. But, later that season, he surpassed this. Appearing for the Players 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...
, on 2 September he returned innings figures of 10/43. The Australians nevertheless won by eight runs in a low-scoring affair: none of the four innings reached 100. The feat of taking 10 wickets in an innings against an Australian touring side was not repeated until Jim Laker
Jim Laker
James "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...
did so twice, once for Surrey and once for England, in 1956.
He lost form in 1879
1879 English cricket season
The 1879 English cricket season saw Lancashire claim a share of the title for the first time.-Champion County:* Lancashire, Nottinghamshire -External sources:* -Annual reviews:...
, taking only 10 wickets at 31.50 in seven matches, and never represented the Players again, kept out by the likes of 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 James Southerton
James Southerton
James Southerton was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1854 and 1879....
. He played only six times the following season, but his figures were much better: 29 wickets at 17.65.
The next four seasons were productive ones. In 1881
1881 English cricket season
-External sources:* -Annual reviews:* John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion , Lillywhite, 1882* James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual , Lillywhite, 1882* Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1882...
, 14 matches brought him 82 wickets at 19.57. ]The following year
1882 English cricket season
-Champion County:* Lancashire, Nottinghamshire -Events:8 April . Formation of Warwickshire CCC at a meeting in Coventry.10 May. Formation of Durham CCC....
was slightly better, with 15 matches producing 94 wickets at 16.93. 1883
1883 English cricket season
-Events:30 January. England won the deciding match of the scheduled three-Test series in Melbourne . Some ladies burned the bails and placed the resultant ashes in a small urn. This was presented to England’s captain, Ivo Bligh, who had promised to "recover those ashes"...
was his most productive season: 21 matches, 148 wickets at an average of 15.90, with 18 five-wicket innings and six 10-wicket matches. He was not quite so effective in 1884
1884 English cricket season
The 1884 English cricket season saw Fred Spofforth, an overseas bowler, take the most wickets-Leading batsmen:Lord Harris was the leading runscorer with 1417 @ 33.73-External sources:* -Annual reviews:...
: the same number of matches as the previous year yielded him 121 wickets at 18.17.
1885 proved to be his final season with Surrey. In 10 matches, he managed only 15 wickets at 26.40 and was not selected for any fixtures after the middle of July.
"It was rather hard luck on Barratt," wrote Grace, "that when he represented Surrey the eleven was not only weak, but had very little fast bowling. In many matches he was kept on too long because there was no one good enough to relieve him, and the consequence was that the batsmen got set and hit him. Nothing disheartens a bowler so much; and these circumstances must be taken into consideration in forming an estimate of the good work he did for his county."
Barratt played only one further first-class match after leaving Surrey, turning out in July, 1886 for CI Thornton
Charles Thornton (cricketer)
Charles Inglis Thornton , nicknamed "Buns", was an English cricketer who played more than 200 first-class matches in the later 19th century, for no fewer than 22 different teams....
's XI against the Australians
Australian cricket team in England in 1886
The Australian cricket team in England in 1886 played 27 first-class matches including 3 Tests which were all won by England:* – England won by 4 wickets* – England won by an innings and 106 runs...
. Although he was no longer playing for Surrey, the county granted him a benefit match
Benefit season
A benefit season is a method of financially rewarding professional cricketers that is used by English county cricket teams to compensate long serving players....
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 1887
1887 English cricket season
-External sources:* -Annual reviews:* James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual , Lillywhite, 1888* Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1888...
, the fixture against Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
.
Later life
He occasionally umpiredUmpire (cricket)
In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...
during his playing career as this was part of the duties of senior professionals on the Oval staff. He was one of the umpires used in major matches during 1889 and 1890, standing in seventeen first class matches.
In January 1889, Barratt became the landlord of the Duchy Arms, a public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
not far from The Oval. Two years later, he died there from consumption
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
at the early age of 46 and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery is a cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery.One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London, and is a site of major historical, architectural and...