At Edgbaston in May 1965, England's most prolific batsman of the era spent 437 minutes making 137 against a weak New Zealand attack. Ken Barrington was dropped for the next Test as a public warning about scoring rates — a punishment unprecedented for a Test centurion. He returned a fortnight later, made 163 against the same opposition, and was never disciplined that way again.
By 1965 Barrington was the most consistent batsman in world cricket. He had scored centuries against Australia, West Indies, India, Pakistan and South Africa. The first Test of the New Zealand summer was widely expected to be a procession.
Mike Smith won the toss and batted. Edrich and Boycott opened; Edrich fell early. Barrington came in on a flat Edgbaston wicket against a New Zealand attack rated by Wisden as 'thin in pace and modest in spin'.
Barrington was 34 and had played 57 Tests, averaging over 60. New Zealand, captained by John Reid, had a thin attack and a young side; the first Test of the series was treated by the English press as a near-certainty for the home side. Barrington walked out at 54 for 1 on the first morning and proceeded to give one of the slowest scoring exhibitions in modern English Test history.
He spent the first hour of his innings without scoring a run, blocking medium-pacer Bryan Yuile. He reached lunch on 17 from 109 balls. The crowd, expecting a benign run-fest, began to barrack. Barrington ground his way to 50 in 207 minutes, to 100 in 345, and was finally caught and bowled by Yuile for 137 in 437 minutes — seven hours and seventeen minutes. He had hit two fours and a six in a single over to bring up his hundred, prompting press jokes that he could clearly score quickly when he chose to.
The selectors met that evening. Chairman Doug Insole — a year before he would do the same to Boycott — summoned Barrington and informed him he was being dropped for the second Test for slow scoring. The official statement, drafted by Insole and approved by the MCC, said England 'expects its batsmen to play in a manner that maintains public interest'. Barrington was 34, had averaged 60 in Tests for five years, and had never previously been criticised. He took the news with characteristic stoicism and returned to Surrey.
He was recalled for the third Test at Headingley and made 163 in 322 minutes — quick by his standards. The selectors did not drop him again. Barrington played on until 1968 and finished with 6,806 Test runs at 58.67. The Edgbaston disciplinary action remained an isolated event in his career.
Day 1, morning: Barrington takes one hour to score his first run.
Day 1, lunch: 17 from 109 balls.
Day 1, mid-afternoon: 50 from 207 minutes; crowd barracks.
Day 2, morning: 100 from 345 minutes; two fours and a six in one over.
Day 2, afternoon: Caught and bowled Yuile 137 from 437 minutes.
Selectors drop Barrington for the second Test.
27 May 1965
Test begins; Barrington walks out at 54/1.
27 May 1965, lunch
17 from 109 balls.
28 May 1965
Out for 137 in 437 minutes.
30 May 1965
England win by nine wickets.
31 May 1965
Selectors drop Barrington for second Test.
Jul 1965
Recalled for third Test; makes 163 in 322 minutes.
“When I got home Doug told me I had let myself down. I went away and thought about it. He was right.”
England won the Test by nine wickets. Barrington was recalled for the third Test at Headingley and made 163 in 322 minutes. New Zealand lost the series 3-0. The disciplinary action was never repeated for Barrington but established the precedent applied to Boycott in 1967.
The Barrington case in 1965 set the precedent the selectors would later cite when dropping Boycott two years later. It established that an England batsman could be dropped not for failing but for succeeding too slowly. The policy was unevenly applied; Barrington remains its highest-profile victim.
The Edgbaston 137 is now read as the high-water mark of mid-1960s anxiety about Test cricket's tempo. Barrington's record — 6,806 runs at 58.67, fifth-highest career average among Englishmen who have played 50 Tests — survives the disciplinary blot. Selectors after Insole have rarely tried to enforce scoring rates by selection.
England
1932-08-12
In August 1932 the MCC selectors confirmed Douglas Jardine as England's captain for the 1932-33 tour of Australia, a decision contested at the highest levels of English cricket and one that — combined with Plum Warner's appointment as tour manager — would set the conditions for the Bodyline series.
England
1934-03-21
On 21 March 1934 Douglas Jardine wrote to The Cricketer that he had 'neither the desire nor the intention' of playing in the upcoming home Ashes series. The announcement, taken as a quiet resignation, removed the architect of Bodyline from the field before Australia returned to England — a precondition Australia's Board had implicitly demanded.
England / Gloucestershire
1937-11-15
In November 1937 Wally Hammond — the leading professional batsman of his era — was accepted by MCC as an amateur, opening the door to the England captaincy he received six months later for the 1938 Ashes. The change crystallised inter-war debates about the amateur-professional divide and the unwritten rule that England's captain be amateur.