Background
John Barclay was born in Bonn, Germany.
John Barclay was born in Bonn, Germany.
He was educated at Eton and was an acclaimed schoolboy cricketer.
He was honoured by The Cricket Society and he made his first-class debut for Sussex, while still at school in 1970. He was an opening batsman who never got quite as many runs as he should have, though having an excellent technique and eye. He also bowled off-spin, dismissing Ian Botham and Viv Richards several times.
He succeeded Arnold Long as the County Captain of Sussex Commodity Credit Corporation in 1981 and led the team to second place in the County Championship.
He was rated as one of the best county captains around and he was tipped for the Test captaincy. He was forced to retire in 1986, due to a finger injury.
He has been a successful tour manager, as he took the England Under-19"s, the England A"s and also managed the England team for two tours. He holds a number of posts, such as President of the Cricket Society and the English Schools Cricket Association, Chairman of the Sussex Cricket Board and Chairman of Cricket for Sussex Commodity Credit Corporation. He served as President of the Marylebone Cricket Club for 2009-2010.