The cricket community has been paying tribute to Tommy Barton this week, with donations in excess of £6,500 pouring in to support Tommy’s family after he was killed in Ryde at the weekend.
30-year-old Barton, from Brading, burst onto the cricketing scene when in 2006, at the age of just 13, he played for Ryde Cavaliers in the Isle of Wight Cup Final.
The following year he joined Lymington Cricket Club for whom in 2009, aged just 16, he won the man of the match award in the Southern Premier Cricket League T20 Cup Final at Hampshire County Cricket Club’s Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
Lymington CC have posted their own tribute:
“Lymington Cricket Club were deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death at the weekend of former player Tommy Barton. Tommy joined Lymington in 2007 and went on to represent the club in 65 league and cup matches.
“Tommy’s finest moment in a Lymington shirt arguably came at the Ageas Bowl in 2009 when his rapid 35 helped Lymo lift the Southern Premier Cricket League T20 Cup against Ventnor, an innings which earned him the man of the match award.
“In 2016, playing for Ryde Cavaliers, Tommy struck a Hampshire League record 331 not out against Portchester 3rd XI. Most recently Tommy had been playing for Ventnor and, ironically, one of his final cricket matches was against Lymington in a pre-season friendly in April”.
That 331 not out in 2016 contained 34x 6s and 19x 4s and remains the highest ever individual Hampshire League score. An article at the time stated that “twice he hit 5x 6s in an over and almost caused the game to be abandoned due to lost balls”.
Club President Neil Trestrail added:
“Tommy was a highly talented 15-year-old when he first came to the club and he made significant contributions on the playing field. Our thoughts are with his parents Kate and Pete and his family and close friends”.
Various Isle of Wight Cricket Clubs have also paid tribute to Tommy and his considerable achievements within the game. Ryde CC noted that, playing for Lymington in 2009, he produced a 3-wicket spell against the Hampshire Academy which included the scalp of current Hampshire captain and England international James Vince.
Shanklin and Godshill Cricket Club have said:
“Everyone connected with Shanklin & Godshill Cricket Club are particularly saddened and shocked to hear the death of Island cricketer Tommy Barton. Many of our players shared some excellent battles with and against Tommy on the cricket field, and he will be sorely missed.”
Tommy only returned to Island cricket this season with his last club Ventnor Cricket Club, for whom he made 60 not out off just 43 balls just a couple of weeks ago.
In their own tribute they say:
“The club is deeply shocked and saddened to have learnt about the death of 1 of our players, Tommy Barton. The thoughts of everyone connected with VCC are with his family at this time.”
A fundraising appeal has been launched to help Tommy’s family. At the time of writing, 178 people have so far raised a staggering £6,765 in order to help the family pay for the funeral costs, with the remainder set aside for his young daughter’s future.
You can view the fundraiser and donate at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/simon-bligh.
