Barry Knight could not be accused of being a late developer. Part of his education was taking place at the Middlesex Cricket School by the time he was ten, and he was playing for Essex colts at thirteen. The oft stated view of Trevor Bailey, who was Essex cricket throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, always maintained that Knight was one of only three cricketers who, on an initial look, he was convinced would play international cricket (the other two were Keith Fletcher and West Indian Keith Boyce).
As an all-rounder it would be fair to say that ultimately Knight did not quite scale the heights that Bailey thought he might. He did play for England in 29 Tests, but was never sure of his place, his longest run in the side being one of six matches. A right arm seam bowler Knight was not genuinely fast, but was certainly distinctly sharp and given a green wicket was able to obtain plenty of lateral movement. With the bat, at a time when such were rare, he was a stylish and free scoring batsman, albeit one who was not particularly comfortable against fast bowling.
Despite his early promise when a 17 year old Knight made his First Class bow he did find the step up a big one. He made four appearances in 1955, struggled for runs and was not even asked to turn his arm over. The following summer he had more opportunities, eleven in all, but had only a single wicket to show for that. With the bat there was more promise as Knight top scored in both innings of the home game against Lancashire, a low scoring affair but one in which the Red Rose fielded three England spinners, and he went on to make his first half century, 84 against Hampshire.
National Service in the RAF severely curtailed Knight’s opportunities in the First Class game in 1957 and 1958 but, older, stronger and fitter, the 1959 model came within five runs of the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a summer when he also recorded his first century.Â
In 1960 a hairline fracture of the foot caused Knight to miss several matches and he was troubled in 1961 by a stomach muscle problem. Thus a ‘double’ still eluded him but Knight had still done enough, the selectors choosing to rest all of the seamers who had played against Australia that summer (Brian Statham, Fred Trueman, Jack Flavell and Les Jackson), and invite Knight to take his place amongst a wholly untried group of pace bowlers taken to the sub-continent.
England beat Pakistan 1-0 in a three match series and lost to India 2-0 over five. Knight missed the first Test against each opponent but once he forced his way into the side he stayed there. In India England relied largely on spin and Knight’s eight wickets cost more than 38 runs each, but this was a better haul than any of the other seamers, ‘Butch’ White, Alan Brown and David Smith. The seamers were more effective in Pakistan where Knight’s six wickets cost him 30 runs each. His only contribution of note with the bat was to be unbeaten on 39 when India clinched victory in the fourth Test.
With Statham and Trueman fit and available there was no way that Knight was going to start the 1962 home series against Pakistan but he had an excellent season with his county, at last completing the double and gaining selection for the final two Tests and an invitation to join the England party to Australia and New Zealand that winter. In the fourth Test against Pakistan Knight recorded what were to remain his best Test figures, a relatively modest 4-38.
In Australia Knight did enough to impress the selectors sufficiently to gain a berth, as third seamer, in the first Test. The match was drawn, Knights contribution being a late burst in Australia’s first innings when he took the last three wickets. It was not however enough to keep the selectors’ confidence and he was left out of the rest of the series Wisden observing that he was not quick enough nor capable of moving the ball sufficiently to trouble good batsmen on good wickets. The Almanack did not comment on his batting, but being dismissed for nought by fending away a short pitched delivery from quick bowler Garth McKenzie did nothing to enhance his chances.Â
In the less rarefied atmosphere of New Zealand England and Knight both flourished, winning each of the three Tests after their 1-1 draw in Australia. In the first Test Knight helped himself to 125 in a little over three and a half hours and shared a partnership of 250 with Peter Parfitt for the sixth wicket. Averaging almost 70 with the bat at the end of the series he also paid a modest 16.88 for his nine wickets. Overall however Knight perhaps enjoyed his trip just a little too much, on return a third of his good conduct bonus being withheld. His crime was, apparently, accepting too much Australian hospitality.
Back home in 1963 Knight was clearly not fancied to face the twin threats of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith with the bat and, after starting the series with a pace attack of Trueman and Statham the England selectors made the seemingly bizarre decision to recall, after more than a decade, the 38 year old Hampshire medium pacer Derek Shackleton when Statham did not impress. ‘Shack’ remained in the side, the selectors hunch fully justified as he took 15 wickets in his four appearances. Back in Essex Knight did the double again and once again earned a place on a tour of the sub-continent, this time a much shorter trip which took in only India.
Financially the 1963/64 series was a great success. The Test matches were played in front of packed crowds despite the dullness of the cricket on offer. The Indians seemed interested only in avoiding defeat. Despite England at times struggling to find eleven fit men there was never any likelihood of a result and all five Tests were drawn. For Knight the series was a disappointment. He played in all five Tests but his six wickets cost him 59.50 apiece. Had the selectors had any options he probably wouldn’t have played in the final Test, but at the eleventh hour he pulled out his best performance of the tour, a second Test century. As with his century in New Zealand his main partner was Parfitt, the pair adding 189 for the fourth wicket.
There was no England call up for Knight for the 1964 Ashes and although he did the double again in a full county season he did not do enough to merit an invitation to join the tour of South Africa so, for the first time in four years he had a winter at home.Â
It is worth pausing at this point to consider the sort of personality Knight had, and it was a far from conventional one for a professional cricketer. Very recently former teammate Robin Hobbs wrote; You couldn’t help but like him, he was a showman, a real woman’s man who had all manner of women around him. Petula Clark used to come to county games. He liked the glamour and the high life, the cars and the suits, before adding a word of caution, he was a nice bloke but got involved with some of the wrong people.
In 1965 Knight went into business. In light of Hobbs’ assessment it is easy to see why his choice was the rag trade, and he began by opening his first menswear shop in Colchester. Not content with that over the next eighteen months he expanded the operation and opened a further shop in Epping. The target market was not the ordinary man in the street, Knight himself saying that the business targeted the chap who has grown out of Carnaby Street but still wants his clothes to be sharp and with-it.Â
Whilst others managed the business for him Knight enjoyed a fine season with Essex in 1965 completing the double again for the third and last time, a feat all the more impressive because no one else managed it – the previous summer he had been one of four. His bowling was particularly effective, bringing him 125 wickets at only 18.90 runs apiece, the best summer of his career.
Despite his success on the field Knight could not find a way into the England side for either of that summer’s two Test series, against New Zealand and South Africa, nor the party that went to Australia that winter under Mike Smith. The selectors had clearly not forgotten about Knight however as he was flown out as a replacement before the Tests started and he found himself opening the bowling in the second Test. In a drawn match figures of 4-84 and 2-61 were respectable enough, but not sufficient to keep him in the side for the third Test once David Brown was fit again.Â
There was another chance for Knight in the final Test when a third seamer was chosen but, with Australia needing just a draw to retain the Ashes the match was a dull one, Bob Cowper amassing 307 as the match barely got to a third innings. At least Knight had the small consolation that Cowper was one of his two victims. The Ashes over there were three more Tests to come in New Zealand. Unlike three years previously all three were drawn, and Knight’s contributions in the two in which he played were modest.
The summer of 1966 was Knight’s last with Essex. He performed well enough to be called up for one of the Tests against West Indies, but it was not a happy summer for Essex who, beset with financial problems and with a wafer thin squad often struggled. Their long time skipper Bailey retired at the end of the season and Knight, who had always idolised Bailey, felt he was being treated shabbily by the county and decided to leave. There are suggestions that he wanted the captaincy himself, and that he was not prepared to play under the man who did get the job, Brian ‘Tonker’ Taylor, but neither was the case.
Knight’s last appearance for Essex was at Taunton in the last match of the 1966 season. The match ended in defeat for the visitors, although the blame for that could certainly not be laid at Knight’s door. He tore the Somerset middle order out in their first innings with a seven over spell of 5-15 and, when Essex struggled in reply a breezy 52 got them within spitting distance. It was not a winning end though as neither Knight nor any of his teammates were able to step up to the plate in the second half of the match.
With a business to go to, and with a degree of disenchantment with county cricket Knight did consider giving up the game, but with plenty of offers from other counties he eventually chose Leicestershire, who offered him the security of a five year contract and where he would play under the leadership of Tony Lock, a man for whom he had much respect and with whom, by then, he shared a deep interest in Australia where Lock plied his trade in the southern hemisphere summers.
Soon after making the break with Essex and signing for his new county Knight was facing up to a rather different kind of contest. The venue was a cricketing one, Lord’s, but in a committee room rather than on the pitch. In those days qualification rules protected counties who had invested in players by, where there was an objection, providing for a two year qualification period before a man could play in the Championship for a new county.
Despite their financial woes Essex went into the meeting, as did Knight, tooled up with Leading Counsel and full legal teams. Former England and Glamorgan skipper Tony Lewis (then very much still an active player) was present. He later wrote of Knight; I had seen him nervous at the crease, but nothing like as white as when he entered the meeting. His eyes stuck to the floor, his clearing of the throat was now more than theatre.Â
A decade later an even bigger legal team put together by Kerry Packer rubbed the establishment’s nose in the dirt by using the doctrine of restraint of trade to sweep aside such rules and contractual provisions, but back in 1967 Knight was doubtless pleased to at least be partially successful and reduce the period to twelve months. He would be able to play in the Championship in 1968.
Kicking his heels in the second eleven for most of 1967 Knight averaged 67 with the bat and 12 with the ball, and performed well in the few non championship matches that he played in. Doubtless he also put in some hours in his business, something that failed spectacularly on him in 1968.
His first season at his new county went well enough for Knight to be selected for the second Test against the Australians and he took three quick wickets amongst the carnage of Australia’s first innings, 78 all out in a match eventually drawn. He retained his place for the third Test, also drawn, but a single wicket and two failures with the bat meant he was twelfth man for the fourth Test that begun at Headingley on 25th July.
On the rest day of the Headingley Test a headline appeared in the now defunct News Of The World that read Why I tried suicide – by Test star. The accompanying article promised that the full exclusive story would appear the following week, and it duly did. There were two fundamental problems that Knight found himself saddled with, one emotional and one financial.
The businesses had originally done well, but then took a step too far and moved into the West End, in Avery Row just behind Claridge’s. A combination of high rent for a very small shop, keen competition from others and too much money thrown at the champagne launch of the new venture saw it and the rest of the business forced under and Knight had to pick up the debts. All this came at the same time as an acrimonious marriage breakdown. That one certainly seems to have been Knight’s fault in that he fell out of love with his German born wife of eight years because he fell in love with an Australian singer, Annette Fisher, who he had met on tour in 1962/63, and who came into his life again when she subsequently visited London to appear on a television programme.
The suicide attempt, which doubtless helped shift a few copies of the News Of The World, occurred in the early part of 1968. Knight’s wife was refusing to divorce him but he was still having to maintain her. The business problems had reached their head and there were demands for money almost every time the postman arrived, the telephone rang, or there was a knock on the door of the flat Knight shared with Annette. Driven to despair the sudden realisation that there was a bottle in the bathroom containing seventeen sleeping tablets suddenly seemed an attractive way out for Knight. He took the lot, but thankfully for him they weren’t strong enough to do very much damage and he quickly made a full recovery.
The News Of The World article also, indirectly, played a small part in the burning cricketing issue of the late summer of 1968 and what became known as the D’Oliveira Affair. MCC were due to select a side to tour South Africa in the winter of 1968/69 and, after scoring a superb 158 in the final Test of the Ashes series D’Oliveira’s selection was, in many quarters, considered a formality. In the end he was left out, in the view of many because the South African government had made it clear to MCC that if he was included the tour would be cancelled.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the conspiracy theorists were right (and some to indicate otherwise) but when D’Oliveira, a frontline batsman who was also a useful medium pacer, was omitted there was an outcry. It did not help when, shortly after the team was selected Tom Cartwright, a frontline bowler who was a useful lower order batsman, pulled out and was replaced by D’Oliveira. Knight would have been an option both when the original party was chosen and the more so when Cartwright dropped out. In the event however the selectors had already been told he was not to be included.
Sadly for Leicestershire 1969 turned out to be Knight’s last summer in First Class cricket, and to mark it he played well enough to be selected for each Test of a three match series against West Indies and two of the three against New Zealand before losing his place to Surrey’s Geoff Arnold for the final match. He then, as he had the previous winter, went out to Australia to coach. In his News Of The World exclusive he had professed his loyalty to Leicestershire and his intention to fulfil the rest of his contract. In the event however he changed his mind and, just before the start of the 1970 season he told the county he would not be returning to complete the last two years of his contract.
It seems likely however that the decision had not been made at the last minute. One of Knight’s most prized possessions was his Jaguar car. At the end of the summer, in an effort no doubt to assuage his creditors he had sold the car to a teammate who had paid over the agreed price. The trouble was he had done the same pay now take delivery when I leave for the winter in Australia deal with someone else. Which of the purchasers got the car? Neither is the answer to that as, whilst the deals were being negotiated, the car was safely in a container bound for Australia.Â
Knight turned 32 in 1970, so still had a few years left in him. Despite his disappointments his 29 Tests had brought him 70 wickets at 31.75 and 812 runs at 26.19 and his Test career was far from over. It is true that a young Tony Greig had just appeared, but the reality is that England had no seam bowling all-rounder to take to Australia in 1970/71 and that was a trip Knight might well have made. He certainly would if his old friend Colin Milburn had had a say in the issue. In June of 1970, in a syndicated newspaper column Milburn, forced out of the game in 1969 when he lost an eye in a road accident, described Knight as England’s number one all-rounder, adding it is difficult to see where the selectors will find a replacement. In the event the side led so well by Ray Illingworth did bring home the Ashes, but they had no one to fill the role Knight could have performed. The closest was Basil D’Oliveira, a class batsman but whose occasionally effective seamers were decidedly gentle.
Quite apart from the troubles he left behind in England the better life that Knight found in Sydney must also have been a factor in not returning. Knight found himself much in demand as a coach. He pioneered the use of video cameras as an instructional aid and many Australian Test players, most notably Allan Border and the Waugh twins benefitted from his attention. As to his own game Knight never played any more First Class cricket after his emigration, but was still playing first grade for Mosman into the 1980s. He earned his living from his coaching, interrupted a couple of times by fires destroying premises. Having said that I should add that I am not aware of any suggestion that there was anything sinister behind the conflagrations.
Barry Knight was 87 when he died last week, by all accounts still a great lover of the game and a popular man whose company was enjoyed by many in Australia. His having had a hand in the development of more than twenty Test players, that is hardly surprising and perhaps, in those circumstances, his character flaws should be overlooked.Â
