An attacking middle order batsman whose career was curtailed by
ill-health - he was only 39 when he died - Victor Barton played in
just a single Test. An Army man, he first played for Kent, producing a
vital innings in the thrilling Kent victory over Nottinghamshire that
produced a three-way Kent-Nottinghamshire-Lancashire tie for the
Championship in 1889. But Barton failed to establish himself in the Kent
side,
and then like so many military men, played for Hampshire for a further
11 years. A powerful driver, he hit the ball so hard on the on-side that
Wisden's obituary relates that "fieldsmen who stood at mid-on had a
wholesome dread of him". Barton played his one Test in 1892, a season
in which England had two simultaneous touring teams, the other side
being in Australia. He was also a useful bowler, taking 141
first-class wickets (DL, 2000).
