Until the Second World War broke out, Barber continued as a regular member of the Yorkshire side.

[1] The same season, he made his first-class debut for Yorkshire against Worcestershire without playing a single innings.

[3] For the next few years, he was unable to attain a regular spot in the Yorkshire side as there were many batsmen competing for places.

[3] Next season, he scored his maiden first-class century against the South Africans in an innings of 108, out of a team total of 335, with no other batsman reaching fifty.

[3] Matters changed for Barber in the 1932 season, when Yorkshire's regular, long serving opening batsman Percy Holmes began to suffer with illness.

Wisden Cricketer's Almanack believed that he thoroughly deserved his place in the team as he scored exactly 1,000 runs at an average of 25.64, the first time he reached four figures in a season.

[14] After this breakthrough, Barber steadily improved his total of runs and batting average, helping Yorkshire to win the County Championship twice in 1933 and 1935.

[3][17] These performances earned him selection for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord's Cricket Ground for the only time in his career, where he scored 61 and 18 not out.

He also took a wicket with his second (and final) ball in Test cricket, when the match was heading towards an obvious draw.

[4][20][21] Following these matches, he was chosen to go on the non-Test playing tour by the Marylebone Cricket Club of Australia and New Zealand that winter under the captaincy of Errol Holmes.

[3] From 1932, when Barber became a regular player, until his last full season in 1946, he was part of a Championship winning side seven times.

[14] Barber scored a total of 16,402 runs in his career with 29 hundreds and 182 catches,[27] and was described by Gerald Howat as "the fourth pillar" of the Yorkshire batting in the mid-1930s (after Herbert Sutcliffe, Maurice Leyland and Arthur Mitchell).

[28] A generally defensive batsman, he played carefully in the tradition of Yorkshire opening batsmen.

This included a stand of 346 in four and a half hours with Maurice Leyland, against Middlesex in 1932 which was a record for Yorkshire's second wicket.

During his time at the club, Barber scored eleven half centuries and won an award for his batting.