Staffordshire’s Finest
Yesterday BBC Radio 5 Live had a big day out at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium. Apparently, the warm up comedian was Heening Wehn, who describes himself as the German Comedy Ambassador to Great Britain. Then there was an edition of Fighting Talk.
One of the first questions was about who was Staffordshire’s finest sportsman.
The panel went on to choose the obvious, Stanley Matthews, the football legend.
But the greatest sportsman from the county only got a passing reference.
Sydney Barnes was an amazing cricketer, who many pundits reckon was the greatest bowler ever. This is John Arlott’s view of his bowling.
He bowled right arm fast-medium but also had what Arlott called “the accuracy, spin and resource of a slow bowler”. Barnes’ high delivery provided him with a lift off the pitch that forced even the best batsmen to play him at an awkward height. He was clever at concealing his pace and could produce deliveries that were both appreciably faster and slower than his usual fast-medium pace; and could bowl an effective yorker.
In other words, he could bowl just about anything. Even the Australian, Richie Benaud, included him in his greatest cricket team of all time.
Like Matthews he was still playing at an advanced age. I saw a documentary about Barnes in the 1960s and at the age of around 90, he was still working for the local council. He must have been a remarkable man.
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