The first Nottinghamshire cricketer in 22 years to complete 1000 runs and 100 wickets double in a County season, Fred Barratt was a bowling all-rounder by design. He could clock high speeds with the ball in hand and was capable of blasting the ball to all parts of the ground. He loved to drive the ball and had a good balance between power and finesse while batting, despite not being a frontline batsman. Barratt played just five Tests, four of which came during the tour of New Zealand in 1930. However, he was a lion-hearted performer in First-class cricket with over 1000 wickets and a run tally of above 6000. The First World War did hamper Barratt a bit, especially in the bowling department as he lost a yard of pace and wasn't as threatening as he used to be in his initial years.

Written by Hariprasad Sadanandan