5 Ashes heroes who committed suicide in later life

Sid Barnes

Sid Barnes ( right) with Arthur Morris

Sid Barnes was an enigma.

He was a fine batsman who scored plenty of runs in Ashes contests against England, at a very impressive average. At one point, he was considered as one of the best in the world. Many have been known as "one of the best" but here we are talking about Sid Barnes; the tale cannot be that commonplace.

When it's Barnes, one is never away from the eccentricities that were associated with him. He was desperate to score a century at Lord's in 1948 after the MCC did not allow him to use the nets for practice in the previous year.

He had even put 8 GBP on stake for his century and got fifteen times the money when he reached that coveted milestone. A year earlier, he had shared a monumental partnership of 405 runs with Bradman at Sydney.

The Don was dismissed on his personal best score of 234 and it is said that Barnes too gave away his wicket when on that score, to remain 'associated' with the Don forever.

Despite all his on-field triumphs, rather unfortunately, it was his off-field activities which often hogged the headlines.

He had the audacity to capture films at Lord's, not travelling with the team, going to play tennis while a Test match was in progress, carrying cigarettes and a deodorant spray to the ground while serving as a twelfth man etc etc.

Outrageous.

He was heavily reprimanded by the cricket board for each of these incidents. Barnes hardly cared, though. If he cared fro such 'trivialities', he would never had fielded at short leg with one foot on the pitch.

Barnes gave up cricket at his peak. Rather, it was cricket which gave him up at that stage. Post the sacking, Barnes wrote Ashes tour books and in them he didn't miss any opportunity of criticising the cricketers and the cricket board.

Barnes was watching matches and writitng reports even in the early 1970s but he knew that he was nearing the end as he was depressed with his life.

In December 1973, he went to visit his mother who was concerned with her's son's health. He came back after meeting his mother and committed suicide. The reason given was 'an overdose of barbiturates'.

Sid Barnes remains the favourite of many who were fortunate to watch him play. Not entirely because of his often impressive batting. But also because of the kind of person he was.

Recommended reading: Cricket's Enigma: The Sid Barnes Story by Rick Smith