Breaking News 108 - Abberton & District Cricket Club

BARRY RUDLIN ONLY THIRD TO MAKE 1000 APPEARANCES [16/08/09 06:46:09]

For the unaware, a remarkable milestone has been achieved by Barry Rudlin this season – he has recently become only the third person (behind John Ward and Edgar Rumney) to appear for Abberton in 1000 senior games.

Making his debut in 1984, he has averaged nearly 40 games a season for the club, and this is a tribute to both his fitness levels and to his dedication and loyalty to the club – does anyone ever remember him calling off once selected?

His career figures and achievements are shown below, but as is often the case with statistics, this does not tell the whole story. He could never really be classed as a consistent match-winner, but one thing is for certain and that is he can turn a game literally within a matter of minutes, and in that respect he has always been an invaluable member of the team.

In the years I was captain, his name was invariably the first on the team sheet – of course, there were times when he was left out of the 1sts, but these were few and far between. This is supported by the fact that over 90% of his appearances have been for the 1st XI.

Some people do not react well to being left out of the 1st XI, and their performance suffers, but not so with Barry. To prove this, with the bat he has averaged over 40 for the 2nds and over 50 for the 3rds, making it very difficult for him not be considered for the 1st XI at the following weekend’s selection.

Unfortunately, I was not present to see Barry’s highest club score, his 184 against Kirby in 1989, but I was privileged enough to witness at first hand numerous other highlights of his career. These have usually come in short sharp bursts, because that is the sort of cricketer Barry is – a text message sort of player, rather than a 20 minute land line call.

One innings which has always stood out for me was in a match against Halstead in the early 1990s. Halstead were a very strong side then (still are) and they had us in all sorts of trouble at 40 for 5 when Barry came to the crease. He then proceeded to deposit arguably the best bowling attack in the league to all parts of the ground, scoring 42 inside 5 overs. We scrambled our way to around 130 and won the game by 20 odd runs, and there was no doubt that it was Barry’s innings which turned the game in our favour.

It was in a later game, against Eight Ash Green, when he achieved his best bowling figures for the club – ripping apart their middle and late order with figures of 7 for 22 in only 6 overs, this again turning the game in Abberton’s favour within a short space of time.

Not content with being able to alter the course of matches through batting and bowling, it has been with his fielding that Barry has excelled, and I have lost count of the amount of times he has made a brilliant stop in the field, taken a breathtaking catch, or run someone out, usually dismissing an opposition dangerman in the process.

Ironically, over the years, Barry has rarely fielded in probably his best position – the slips. I would put him up there with Alan Sherwood as the best slipper I have seen at the club, but as he was equally as efficient in the deep, on the one, or most notably at short leg, Barry rarely ventured into the slip cordon.

A highly innovative cricketer, he was the first batsman I saw perform the reverse sweep, the first to step back to leg and lift the quicks over third man, one of the first to wear a helmet. Throughout his career, he has always looked for something different on the field. And he has certainly been one of the best at adapting to suit the game’s needs.

It is rare for a game to pass without Barry doing something memorable - even nowadays. Indeed, the last two games I have played with Barry (this season) have produced two outstanding flashes of brilliance – against Gt Horkesley he scored 40 odd not out to lead us to victory, including a trademark dance down the wicket to produce an exquisite cover drive, whilst in the match at Ardleigh he showed his reflexes are still of the highest quality, reacting to a full blooded pull at short leg he stopped the ball with one hand, transferred it to the other and returned the ball to the wicket-keeper all in one movement.

All in all Barry’s contribution to the club over the years has been exceptional. There are several players, most notably some of the younger fraternity, who could do a lot worse than tap into his immense knowledge of the game, and learn something from it.

From Simon Swinn's forthcoming book Barry Rudlin: An Appreciation, available from all good bookstores