Career
He was part of the New Zealand team that toured England in 1986, but never played a Test or ODI. Barrett"s first-class debut came for Worcestershire against Cambridge University in June 1985. In a drawn match in which little play was possible, he took the single wicket of Shaun Gorman and did not battalion He only ever made one further first-team appearance for the county, when he took 0-43 in eight overs and scored 5 not out against Gloucestershire in a John Player League match at Moreton-in-Marsh near the end of the season.
Returning to New Zealand, he appeared three times for Auckland in the 1985-1986 Shell Trophy, collecting five wickets in his first game against Canterbury.
He then played several times for New Zealand Young Cricketers against their touring Australian counterparts, making five Youth Test and two Youth ODI appearances, although without any startling success. Back in England for 1986, he was unable to break into the Worcestershire first team, but in July and August he turned out a number of times for the touring New Zealanders, though without gaining any international honours or indeed more than three wickets in any innings.
He also accompanied his country to the Netherlands for two minor games. Barrett moved from Auckland to Northern Districts for the 1986-1987 season, and in a Shell Cup game against Otago in late December 1986 recorded by far his best innings figures in any major match, claiming 6-12 from ten overs.
This was the first (and, as of 2008, remains the only) time that a Northern Districts player had taken six wickets in a List A innings.
More home Youth internationals against the Australians followed later that season, although again without any eye-catching figures. He played on for Northern Districts for a couple more seasons, several times taking four wickets in a first-class innings but never managing to go one better. Barrett played only one match in the 1989-1990 season, and his career ended unsuccessfully with no wickets against Wellington.
