Sydney Francis Barnes (19 April 1873 - 26 December 1967) was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest ever bowlers. He was right-handed and bowled at a pace that varied from medium to fast-medium with the ability to make the ball both swing and break from off or leg. He is the quickest bowler to achieve 150 Test wickets in history. Barnes was unusual in that, despite a very long career as a top-class player, he spent little more than two seasons in first-class cricket, representing Warwickshire and Lancashire.

Barnes' career began in 1888 when he was fifteen and played for a small club which had a ground behind the Galton Hotel in Smethwick. Soon afterwards, he joined Smethwick Cricket Club and played for its third team. He was taught to bowl off spin by Billy Bird, the Smethwick professional who had played for Warwickshire, and then taught himself to bowl leg spin. In due course, he was selected for the second team and had earned a place in the first team, playing in the Birmingham and District Premier League, at the start of the 1893 season.  In 1894, when Barnes was a 21-year-old fast bowler, he was asked to join the ground staff of Staffordshire County Cricket Club but he found the terms unattractive. Instead, he joined Rishton Cricket Club in the Lancashire League where the pay was better than in any form of county cricket, largely because of match bonuses and collections. Wilfrid S. White commented that Barnes' career in league cricket "stands out unparalleled, unapproached, by any other player".  Later in the 1894 season, Barnes was invited to play for Warwickshire, who were due to enter the County Championship in 1895. His debut was in a minor match against Cheshire at Edgbaston on 20-21 August. Barnes bowled only 8 overs, taking none for 27, and the match was drawn. On 23 August, Barnes made his first-class debut for Warwickshire against Gloucestershire at Clifton College Close Ground, except that he did not take the field as play was restricted by bad weather to just 72 overs of his team's first innings, in which they reached 102-2.

Ask a question about this article.
What was he doing in 1894?