NICK FRIEND: Still just 24 years of age, there can be few at this stage of their cricketing lives with so many first team appearances to their name: Barnard’s tally is nearing 170
Ed Barnard went viral last July. Twice, in fact: on one occasion via Old Trafford’s live streaming setup, on the other a week earlier at Trent Bridge in front of Sky Sports’ watching cameras.
Both times, Worcestershire's allrounder flung himself away to take fine catches on the boundary’s edge – once to his left, the other to his right; in neither case was man favourite versus ball.
Liam Livingstone, his second victim, wandered off with an air of astonishment – a wry smile, a shake of the head and an expression of dumfounded appreciation. He had nailed his pull shot: four, if not six, all the way – until it wasn’t. The sort of content that county social media managers crave.
Eight days earlier, Barnard had put in a dress rehearsal against Nottinghamshire and Jake Libby – now a teammate at Worcestershire – in the club’s first T20 Blast game since winning the competition the previous year.
“The Old Trafford one, I'm not really sure how that one stuck,” he laughs.
“Fielding is a massive thing that I pride myself on. I feel like it’s one of those things that if there’s a selection between you and someone else, it’s just another string to your bow that might just get you the nod. I do want to become a genuine three-stringed cricketer.”
A major part of his county’s white-ball success, he is well aware of his own limitations and the importance of expanding his sense of value.
It was one of his reasons for spending this winter at home rather than in Perth, as per the two off-seasons beforehand – to sneak in some technical work with both bat and ball. His numbers in first-class cricket up to this point suggest a bowler who bats, though those who have watched him – certainly in either limited-over format – will know the wider breadth of his talents.
“It’s a strange one,” he says. “In my head, I’m a genuine allrounder and I want to be a genuine allrounder. I want to be able to bat in the top six and be able to offer with the ball.”
There were 63 wickets in all competitions in 2019, 44 of those coming with the red ball: nobody at Worcestershire took more.
Still just 24 years of age, there can be few at this stage of their cricketing lives with so many first team appearances to their name: Barnard’s tally has reached 170. With that experience, he has come to recognise the relative quandary of his art; he wants to play at the highest level – a stint with England Lions during the summer of 2018 has allowed him a sample. At the same time, though, he understands that pace is king.
Barnard took 63 wickets in all competitions for Worcestershire in 2019
“It’s something that I’ve had lots of conversations about,” he explains. “I want to play international cricket and that is where I want to be. It’s trying to find that balance.
“I realise I’m not going to be a 90mph bowler but if I could bowl a little bit quicker, that would help my aspirations. But then again, I don’t want to strive too much for that and then lose the skills that I have; doing what I do at the minute has been quite effective.
“But I do think that for me to find a route in, my batting is going to have to play a big part and I’m going to have to score more runs and become more effective with the bat. In international cricket, bowling as I do now wouldn’t be enough. Working on my batting is massive.”
The white-ball skills he mentions have been honed in conjunction with a young seam bowling attack, presided over by bowling coach Alan Richardson. Pat Brown has become a leader in the pack; the England youngster and Barnard work on their subtle variations and often share ideas they have picked up simply by forensically watching and analysing internet footage.
“I love cricket,” Barnard adds with a chuckle. “I’ll watch anything that’s on TV. Literally anything to do with cricket, I’m always in and around it. Pat shared a video the other day, where there was a baseball pitcher and the ball stays completely still as it comes out.
“It’s one of those things where, as young lads, it’s really exciting to talk about it – especially white-ball cricket, because there’s so much you can learn about with all these different skills. Pat has been brilliant in these last couple of years. He’ll practise something for a couple of weeks and then, all of a sudden, you’ll see him do it in a game and he’s nailing it under pressure.
“I think he sets a brilliant example for us through the way that he talks about the game. And I think, especially for me at my pace, you need to try to stay one step ahead.”
He reflects on his Lions call-up as a seminal moment of sorts. Ben Cox, his county teammate, told The Cricketer that prior to his own maiden Lions selection over the winter, he had become “resigned to the fact that I probably wouldn’t ever be involved”.
For Barnard – four years younger, it was different; he had already represented England at under-19 level but even so, it acted as a major confidence boost – “it’s just a nice feeling to know that people think that of you,” he says, looking back to two appearances against the Indian and West Indian tourists.
“It was a huge learning curve and a step up. It was like: ‘Right, that’s the standard now that I have to aspire to reach to be playing in that regularly and then to kick on again.’
“As well as enjoying it, it did open my eyes a little bit to see how that level of performance is and the level of training as well. It gave me a taste and I want to do it again if I can.
“There were bits of feedback. On the bowling side, they talked about the importance of pace, but I think I already knew that going into it. Obviously, if you can bowl a little bit quicker, it will be much more effective.
“The only way you can knock on the door is to perform for your county, put in performances week in week out and consistently dominate county cricket.”
Barnard celebrates catching Liam Livingstone at Old Trafford (above)
Barnard is impressive company; the attitude for which he is highly regarded comes through in spades as he talks through his own game and the challenges posed for a young, ambitious athlete in the uncertainty of the immediate future. He has a Hundred contract with Northern Superchargers and was hopeful that his white-ball efforts in the months ahead might nudge his name into overseas franchise contention.
For the moment, of course, much of that feels like something of an irrelevance. There are far more significant matters at hand that extend well beyond sport.
“Play could start in two months but then we might not play at all,” he says. “It’s just one of those things – you just have to be aware and stay on your toes a bit.
“As important as it is, there are bigger things in the country – people’s health. I don’t want to preach or anything, but that’s the main concern. If we can get to a point where we can get cricket in and it’s safe enough and everybody is comfortable with it, then that would be brilliant.
“Hopefully we can get some sort of season in at some point; it’s about making sure you can be as mentally fresh as possible.”
When cricket can resume, he is keen to shift up the order. During his England Under-19 career – in a side that included Ryan Higgins, Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke and new Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes, he was used predominantly as a batsman.
“That’s a real aim of mine,” he stresses. “If we do get some cricket in, I want to bat at five or six in red-ball cricket if I can. My end goal is to be able to bat there.
“But white-ball cricket is a tough one; I found myself batting down the order, so I did a lot of work on my finishing skills and my bowling has obviously been quite effective as well, which I’ve really enjoyed.
“I’d like to bat higher in it, but then I really enjoy that role coming in for the last few overs and hitting the ball in weird areas or scoring quickly to help to boost the team’s total or dealing with those pressure situations at the end.”
He was at the non-striker’s end in the 2018 T20 Blast final when Ben Cox single-handedly brought home a maiden title for the club, with Barnard forced to face just two of ten deliveries during an unbroken, historic 32-run stand.
“We do pride ourselves on that family environment that we have at the club,” he adds. “We like to think that we don’t have many big egos in the changing room and everyone sort of gets on well, which is all very well.
“But when we get onto the pitch, it’s important that we do have that steel inside us as well. We don’t always want to be known as the nice blokes who everyone likes coming to play against. Sometimes, you have to try and find that balance but it’s definitely something that’s worked for us.”
Barnard was at the non-striker's end when Ben Cox hit the winning runs in the 2018 T20 Blast
Clarke, still then of Worcestershire, had been a teammate ever since the early days of age-group cricket with Shropshire, while Barnard’s journey has been indebted at different stages to Shrewsbury School and Shrewsbury Cricket Club, where his father, Andrew, was first captain and then chairman.
Barnard Snr was also part of the Shropshire side that famously beat Yorkshire in the 1984 NatWest Trophy, a minor county team featuring names as varied as former Pakistan allrounder Mushtaq Mohammad and ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Steven Ogrizovic dethroning a Yorkshire team captained by David Bairstow, whose batting order was headed by Geoff Boycott.
“I’m sure I have been told about it, but I can’t remember the details,” Barnard admits. Kevin Sharp, part of the coaching staff at Worcestershire, was playing in the game for Yorkshire. “He loves telling a story,” he laughs, “so I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it from him three or four times.”
Barnard played alongside his brothers Steven and Michael when Shrewsbury won the ECB National Championship in 2011 against Cambridge Granta. Ed Foster, who also played for Shropshire, made an unbeaten 98, while his brother, Robert, made 39. Worcestershire club captain Joe Leach was also part of the side, as was his brother Steve. It is a togetherness that has accompanied him through much of what he has experienced in cricket.
“It seems to have been a bit of a strong breeding ground recently,” he says of home with a sense of nostalgic joy. “For me, it all stems from my dad really. Me and my older brothers were always down there watching.
“We were lucky enough that when we were all in the first team at the same time, we were in a very strong side. It’s really nice. I still play for them when I can; it’s really nice to be able to go back and play in a strong club side, while also doing it for my home club.
“There are a lot of players who have to move away from their home club to play at a stronger standard. But luckily for me, I’m able to go home and see my family, see mum and dad, but also play some really good club cricket when I can.”
Having begun with Shropshire, Barnard speaks with a genuine affection for the minor county system. “I absolutely loved playing for them,” he adds.
“I was with them from under-10 through to under-17 and for the first team as well. I had a lot of good friends doing that and we had a lot of good cricketers at that age.
“You look around the country and there are 18 first-class counties and they’re all brilliant, but they only take up a certain percentage of the UK, if you know what I mean. There’s all that other area where there are minor counties.
“And minor county cricket is brilliant – even for the opportunities where lads are first breaking into first-class counties. I know lads who go back and play minor county stuff just to get more cricket in. You look at the amount of players who have come through the minor county system, it’s massive. It’s a huge part of cricket in England.”
He references his roots in his Twitter bio: ‘Salopian cricketer, Worcestershire CCC and big Geordie,’ it reads. Wherever possible, he travels home and away to watch Newcastle – his mother hails from Gateshead.
It all makes sense: Barnard is proud of where he has come from, pleased with what he has achieved. Just five years into a professional career, however, he wants more. Listening to him talk cricket, you’d be brave to doubt him.
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