Eddie Barlow was a cricketer straight out of Boy's Own - incessantly enthusiastic and imbued with bottomless confidence. His nickname, "Bunter", was as much confirmation of that as it was a reflection of his facial resemblance to Billy Bunter, the chunky, bespectacled, British schoolboy of juvenile fiction. But Barlow was an athlete, and one who prized himself on his fitness and stamina. He was one of the most popular players of his generation, and never gave less than his all as an obdurate opening batsman, an aggressive medium-pacer and a superb slip field. Commentator Charles Fortune once described the often-untidy Barlow as running in to bowl "looking like an unmade bed". After retirement, Barlow was a liberal voice in the conservative South African political establishment of the 1980s. He became a respected coach at provincial level, never without a theory that he said would lead to brighter cricket, and was appointed Bangladesh coach in 1999. However, a stroke in 2000 left him paralysed and he moved to north Wales where, despite his disabilities, he continued to coach locally. He died late in 2005 after a long battle against illness.
Neil Manthorp