Victor Barton

Victor Alexander Barton (6 October 1867 — 23 March 1906) was an English first-class cricketer, association footballer, and soldier. Beginning his cricket with the Royal Artillery Cricket Club, his performances bought him to the attention of Kent, for whom he would play first-class cricket for in 1889 and 1890. Barton bought himself out of the Royal Artillery in 1891 in order to pursue a professional career with his native-county Hampshire, who were at the time a second-class county. Prior to his arrival at Hampshire, Barton toured South Africa with an English team captained by Walter Read, and played in the tours final match against South Africa, which was later retrospectively afforded Test status. He played for Hampshire between 1892 and 1902, and following their reelevation to first-class status for the 1895 season, Barton appeared in over 140 first-class matches for the county, scoring over 6,000 runs and taking 130 wickets.

As a footballer, he made one appearance for Southampton St Mary's as a goalkeeper in the 1892–93 Hampshire Senior Cup.

Beginnings with Kent
The son of Benjamin Barton, a soldier, he was born in October 1867 at Netley, Hampshire. Barton served in the British Army, holding the rank of bombardier in the Royal Artillery (RA). Barton produced a number of strong performances for the Royal Artillery Cricket Club (RACC) in the first half of the 1889, including against the Gentlemen of the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's, where Wisden described his batting as "a superb performance" as he scored 91 out of a total of 167 in the RACC first innings and 102 out of 171 in their second innings. This caught the attention of Kent, who taking advantage of him being garrisoned in the county at Woolwich, and thus eligible to play for the county, offered him a trial. In July of that season, he made his debut in first-class cricket for Kent against Yorkshire at Maidstone, with him making six further appearances that season. He played an important role in Kent's unlikely victory over Nottinghamshire in the final match of the season at Beckenham, which resulted in a three–way County Champion tie between Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Surrey.

He played for Kent in the first season of the County Championship, making three appearances, plus an additional appearance against the touring Australians. Although he was unable to find form for Kent, he headed the bowling averages for the RACC, taking 89 wickets at 9.60 runs per wicket. Having shown early promise for Kent, he was not re-engaged beyond the 1890 season. Amongst the causes of his intermittent appearances for Kent over his two seasons with the club was the necessity for Kent to play at least three amateurs, and sometimes as many as six or seven (particularly during the Canterbury Cricket Week) limited his appearances.

Move to Hampshire
Barton bought himself out of the RA in 1891 in order to move to Hampshire as a professional; Hampshire were then a second-class county with aspirations to recover the first-class status they had lost in 1885. Early on in his move back to Hampshire, he coached at Winchester College for a few weeks. During the winter which followed the 1891 season, Barton toured South Africa with an English team captained by Walter Read, which was one of two simultaneous England team tours, the other touring Australia. He played in ten non-first-class matches on the tour, before playing in the final match against South Africa at Cape Town, which was later retrospectively afforded Test status. In a match which England won by an innings and 189 runs, Barton batted once, making 23 runs before he was dismissed by Charles Mills. Barton is the only regular member of the RA to have played Test cricket.

Upon his return to England, he played his first season for Hampshire, topping both the batting and bowling averages. Hampshire regained their first-class status in October 1894, with Barton playing in Hampshire's first ever County Championship match against Somerset at Taunton the following season, which Hampshire won by 11 runs. In sixteen first-class matches in 1895, he scored 707 runs and made four half centuries. The following season, Barton was given the opportunity to bowl, taking 17 wickets at an average of 30.29, while scoring 795 runs at an average of 29.44; he scored his maiden first-class century with 112 runs against Warwickshire. He nearly reached the landmark of 1,000 first-class runs for the season in 1897, with 971 runs at an average of 27.74 from 21 matches. It was in 1897 that he played for the South in the North v South fixture. Barton would eventually pass 1,000 runs for the season in 1899, in addition to taking 38 wickets at an average of 36.15. Prior to the 1900 season he recovered from a serious illness, which the Hampshire Independent noted had "left his life hanging in the balance". Russell Bencraft and the Hampshire committee sent Barton to Bournemouth for recuperation following the illness.

Despite his pre-season ill-health, Barton had a successful season in 1900. He passed 1,000 runs in a season for the second time, while also making a double-century (205) against Sussex at Hove; he was the first Hampshire professional to make a double-century. Barton developed into an all-rounder later in his career, taking 38 wickets in 1900 at an average of 36.15, and 51 wickets at an average of 22.52 in 1901; in 1901, he took two five wicket hauls and claimed his career best figures of 6 for 28 against Surrey. Such was his success in 1901, Barton was selected to play for the Players in the Gentlemen v Players fixture at The Oval. He was awarded a benefit match ahead of the 1902 season, which the Hampshire committee arranged to take place against Surrey in July 1902; in his benefit match, he took a five wicket haul (5 for 33) in Surrey's second innings. He made twelve first-class appearances in 1902, before poor eyesight forced him to retire.

Barton made 143 first-class appearances for Hampshire, scoring 6,204 runs at an average of 25.01, making six centuries alongside thirty half centuries. Wisden described his batting style as "attractive", whilst The Times remarked that "the chief characteristic of his batting was the great power of his own driving". Later in his career, Barton developed into an all-rounder, taking 130 first-class wickets for Hampshire at an average of 29.37, with three five wicket hauls. He typically fielded at mid-on, taking 101 catches across his first-class career. Summarising his cricket career, The Times wrote: "[he] never took a very high place in the cricket world, but he was a most useful bat and a quite a good change bowler".

Football career
Barton also played football as a goalkeeper, being invited by Russell Bencraft (who was honorary secretary at Hampshire, and soon to be president of Southampton St. Mary's) invited him to join the team as a reserve goalkeeper. He made one appearance for Southampton St. Mary's in the semi-final of the Hampshire Senior Cup in February 1893, due to an injury to regular goalkeeper Ralph Ruffell. In the match, played at the County Ground, Southampton defeated Portsmouth 2–0. Barton was injured by the time of the final on 11 March and was replaced by the now fit again Ralph Ruffell, with Southampton losing 2–1 to local rivals Freemantle.

Life outside sport
In partnership with former Southampton St. Mary's footballer Jack Dorkin, Barton ran a sports outfitters business in London Road, Southampton. He was also briefly involved in the manufacture of cricket bats, before becoming the landlord of the Alexandra Hotel in Southampton, where he died on 23 March 1906, aged 38, from pneumonia; he had been in declining health for several years. He was survived by his wife, Louisa, and one daughter. His funeral took place at Southampton Old Cemetery and was well attended by players and officials from Hampshire. Remembering Barton, Russell Bencraft described him as the most "unassuming, gentlemanly cricketer".