Thomas Barker (Nottinghamshire cricketer)

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Thomas Barker (born 15 November 1798 at Carlton, Nottinghamshire; died 2 March 1877 at Nottingham was a noted Nottinghamshire cricketer from 1826 to 1845. He was a right-handed batsman and a roundarm fast bowler.

Barker's first game for Nottingham was in 1826. Thirteen years later, he became the first Notts professional to feature in a Gentlemen-v.-Players match.

Cricket historian Peter Wynne-Thomas described Barker as "talented", especially with respect to his vesicating bowling. "So violent was it," wrote William Denison, "that he sometimes ran up to the crease and propelled his instrument of attack as though his head would follow the ball."

Celebrated for his jollity, his kindliness and not least of all his "whisper", Barker was the subject of many humorous stories. "The best known," according to Wynne-Thomas, "occurred when Barker arrived at Lord's and Dark, the owner at the time, stood in the ground expecting him. Barker was surprised of Dark's prior knowledge, but the latter dryly remarked that he had heard Barker the moment he alighted from the train at St Pancras."

In 1843, Barker was badly injured after falling out of a London cab. Never the same thenceforth, he played his last match for Nottinghamshire in 1845, taking up an engagement at Lord's, primarily as an umpire. During the winter months, he worked back in Nottingham as a stockiner. He passed away in 1877.