| John Barnwell | |
| Country: | England |
| Fullname: | Charles John Patrick Barnwell |
| Birth Date: | 23 June 1914 |
| Birth Place: | Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England |
| Death Place: | Fivehead, Somerset, England |
| Batting: | Right-handed |
| Bowling: | Right-arm medium |
| Role: | Batsman |
| Family: | Michael Barnwell (nephew) |
| Type1: | FC |
| Debutdate1: | 12 June |
| Debutyear1: | 1935 |
| Debutfor1: | Somerset |
| Debutagainst1: | Gloucestershire |
| Lastdate1: | 1 July |
| Lastyear1: | 1948 |
| Lastfor1: | Somerset |
| Lastagainst1: | Lancashire |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 69 |
| Runs1: | 1,592 |
| Bat Avg1: | 15.16 |
| 100S/50S1: | 0/5 |
| Top Score1: | 83 |
| Deliveries1: | 52 |
| Wickets1: | 0 |
| Bowl Avg1: | – |
| Fivefor1: | – |
| Tenfor1: | – |
| Best Bowling1: | – |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 18/– |
| Date: | 22 September |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Source: | https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3424/3424.html CricketArchive |
Charles John Patrick Barnwell (23 June 1914 – 4 September 1998) played first-class cricket for Somerset as an amateur player before and after the Second World War. He was born at Stoke-on-Trent in 1914.
John Barnwell was a right-handed batsman who, in a team with a large number of all-rounders, frequently batted as low as No 8 or 9 in the order. He sometimes captained the team in the absence of the regular captains Reggie Ingle and Bunty Longrigg. He was also known as a good fielder in the covers.[1]
Educated at Repton, Barnwell first appeared for Somerset in 1935, and played 11 matches the following year, though with a highest score of 38 he made little impact.[2] In 1937, he played only seven games, but passed 50 for the first time with 73 in the match against Gloucestershire at Taunton.[3]
In 1938 and 1939, and again in the first post-war season of 1946, Barnwell appeared in more than half Somerset's first-class matches, although he failed to top 400 runs in any season. In 1938, batting at No 9, he made an unbeaten 49 and shared a partnership for the eighth wicket of 143 with Longrigg which was a county record until beaten by Viv Richards and Ian Botham in 1983.[4] His best season was 1939, when he made 396 runs, including his career-best of 83 against Hampshire at Taunton.[5]
After the 1946 season, Barnwell was allegedly offered the captaincy of Somerset, but turned it down,[1] and appeared for the county only once more, in 1948.
His career outside cricket was as a farmer, breeding silver foxes for the fur trade.[1] According to another account by the same author, he "personified the 'old school', a debonair amateur... Rightly proud of his nimbleness in the covers and the four boundaries in a row he once audaciously took off Voce at Trent Bridge."[6]
His nephew, Michael Barnwell, played cricket for Cambridge University, Somerset and Eastern Province in the 1960s and 1970s. He died at Fivehead in Somerset in 1998.