Barry Jarman

When Gil Langley retired as Australia's wicketkeeper after the 1956-57 tour of India, the smart money was on his burly South Australian colleague Barry Jarman picking up the gauntlets. Of the two uncapped keepers chosen for the South African tour a year later, Jarman was 21 and Wally Grout 30. Jarman was the better batsman, too: a few years on he would hammer 196 against New South Wales. But Grout sneaked in with 95 in the last match before the first Test at Johannesburg, took a record-equalling six catches in the second innings of his debut, and kept his place for the next eight years. Jarman had to be content with the deputy's role on several tours, and picked up a few caps when Grout was injured, most notably when a kicker from his Queensland team-mate Wes Hall broke Grout's jaw and cost him three Ashes Tests. By the time Jarman took over permanently, his chunky frame was beginning to slow him down, and his once-satin glovework was looking more man-made. Vice-captain in England in 1968, Jarman led Australia in the fourth Test at Headingley, when Bill Lawry was injured. By the time his career ended he had made 560 dismissals, a tally surpassed only by Grout and Bert Oldfield at that time. Jarman was later an imposing sight as one of the first international match referees.
Steven Lynch