Playing for Northamptonshire and England, he was an opening batsman who was renowned as one of the most exciting players of his time, largely owing to his unorthodox methods, which allowed him to play some of the most brilliant innings in county cricket, despite the fact that his county, Northamptonshire, was exceptionally weak throughout his career: he was always the only class batsman in the team in the years before his career was ended by a serious car accident in 1936.
[1] His stance was perhaps the most "two-eyed" known in the history of the game, with his right shoulder typically turned so far round as to be facing mid-off, and he gripped the bat with the hands at the extreme ends of the handle.
This allowed Bakewell to produce some of the most remarkable strokes, such as cutting sharp off-breaks pitched on middle stump and difficult hooks of short-pitched balls.
With Jack Hobbs having retired the following year, Bakewell was seen as the best young prospect open the England innings with the incomparable Herbert Sutcliffe.
The following year he was not as consistent, but in the last match he played a magnificent unbeaten innings of 241 against the strong bowling of Derbyshire – who had sealed their only ever County Championship title – to almost give Northamptonshire an elusive victory.