The Chief Coach was Andy Sandham who thought his leg-spin bowling lacked accuracy (Surrey had Jim Laker and Tony Lock so did not need another spinner) and made him concentrate on his batting.

The arrival of Barrington and Mickey Stewart was seen as the turning point in Surrey's fortunes and E.M. Wellings wrote that he was the best young batting prospect since Denis Compton, adding "He is a brilliant strokemaker and now has such a sound defence that he is as convincing on the wet wickets as on the dry.

As first-class cricketers rarely had employment in the winter Barrington worked for British Rail (painting Oxford station), a firm of solicitors and at a job selling perfumes and carpets.

This was coupled with a change of attitude encouraged by Alec Bedser and Jim Laker; he forsook the big hitting of his youth and became a stonewaller, making runs with the minimum of risk.

[22] An earlier attempt to turn Barrington into an opener had failed, but McIntyre promoted him to number 3 in the order to stop him getting nervous while pacing around the dressing room waiting to bat.

In India they played the Combined Universities at Poona and Barrington made 149 not out in 290 minutes, and when he took two wickets there was a pitch invasion as the crowd gave him presents, including a pair of sunglasses, which he used for the rest of the match, even when bowling.

On a more practical side he forsook local food, living off egg and chips for almost the entire tour and kept an array of medicines to ward off illness (he lost 8 lbs before the First Test).

Frank Worrell was the first full-time African-Caribbean cricketer to captain the West Indies and had a colourful team in the shape of Conrad Hunte, Rohan Kanhai, Gary Sobers, Basil Butcher, Lance Gibbs, Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith.

Barrington made 60, added 99 runs with Colin Cowdrey (whose arm was broken by Wes Hall) and Brian Close and hit Gibbs for a six followed by another onto the Lord's balcony.

A few days later his smashed 83 in 27 minutes at Reading in one of his benefit matches, hitting 7 sixes, breaking the pavilion roof and followed this up with 207 against Nottinghamshire to give him back-to-back first-class double centuries.

In the Second Test England enforced the follow on after another Barrington century – 121 – was brought up with a six as he added 191 with Dexter for the third wicket, but Colin Bland dug in for 144 not out as South Africa held out for a draw.

Here he made 163 at twice the speed as his Edgbaston century,[43] struck 26 fours and added 369 with John Edrich (310 not out) in just over a day, Mike Smith declared on 546/4 and New Zealand lost by an innings and 187 runs.

Gary Sobers returned with the West Indies in 1966 including Charlie Griffith who had been accused of throwing by the Australians Bobby Simpson, Norm O'Neill and Wally Grout.

[52] Strangely he was defended by the old Surrey captain and big-hitter Percy Fender "I am no advocate of slow scoring...but there are times when the demands of the game, situation and the interests of the side make it necessary".

Tear gas was used by the Jamaican police to restore order and play resumed, but the England team lost their hold on the game as Sobers made 113 not out and the West indies 391/9.

Sobers was lambasted by the Caribbean press for his cavalier declaration, but responded in the Fifth Test in Georgetown, Guyana with 152 and 95 not out, Barrington taking his wicket again in the first innings, and England were struggling at 206/9 when stumps were pulled on the last day, but they drew the match and won the series.

[62] After 15 years of marriage Ann found she was pregnant on 15 April 1969, the start of the cricket season just after Ken had retired, and their son Guy Kenneth Barrington was born on 1 November 1969.

Another win in the Third Test gave England their first series victory in India since Douglas Jardine in 1933–34, but it was spoilt by accusations by the Indian captain Bishan Bedi that Lever used Vaseline to shine the ball.

The team arrived in the wake of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's military coup displacing Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the country was in a state of high tension and disorder.

[70] The tour of Australia in 1978–79 was in direct competition with Kerry Packer's WSC and Doug Insole was made the team manager to deal with the social calendar, finances and any cricket diplomacy.

This gave them an advantage over Australia who had no experienced players in their team, though they had the young batsmen Allan Border and Kim Hughes and the fast bowler Rodney Hogg, who took a record 41 wickets (12.85).

Furthermore, they were up against Clive Lloyd's powerful West Indian team including Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft.

The centre was opened by Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and Prime Minister John Major, the last two keen cricket fans, the Essex and England captain Graham Gooch and of course, Ann and Guy Barrington.

At home he could ill afford to hire mechanics or decorators and as a result become an accomplished car-repairman for his friends and colleagues, his own car was always kept spotless and in perfect working order, and was a keen DIY man.

[83] Barrington was a well known sayer of malapropisms such as; "If you pitch it there you put the batsman in two-mans land",[84] "That was good bowling in anyone's cup of tea",[85] "The press went through the food like a swarm of lotuses" and "high-philosophy bullets".

[86] Ken's batsmanship displayed different qualities which were not so glamorous, perhaps, but no less essential: determination, courage, application and overwhelming dedication to the task in hand...How reassuring it would have been last summer to have seen that familiar figure once again – square-on stance, cap pulled down, sleeves rolled up, jutting jaw, ready for anything that bowlers could unleash.

His grimacing and nervous jump when receiving hostile fast bowling led some to believe that he was afraid, but he stood up to Wes Hall, Chester Watson, Charlie Griffith and Peter Pollock even when injured.

His square stance made the cover drive difficult and Barrington eliminated it from his scoring strokes Even so, bowlers attacked the off-stump, as Richie Benaud explained "It wasn't that he was weak there, but merely he was less strong".

He was an avuncular figure popular with the England players who held him in great respect and called him 'the Colonel', but could also tease him and "eagerly awaited the traditional Barrington reaction of hands on hips, eyes cast in the air and a resigned shake of the head".

Barrington's granite-like hundreds ensured that England only lost one Test in which he made three figures, but also won eight, belying his reputation as a match-saver rather than a match-winner, and most of them by huge margins; four by an innings, one by 256 runs and three by 10, 9, and 8 wickets.