Born on November 24th 1936 in Beddington, Surrey, Edna Barker was one of the premier allrounders in Test cricket in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
In the summer of 1955 Edna trialed with Surrey and spent the season playing in the Second XI. By 1956 she is in the senior team, bowling her off breaks and batting in the middle to lower order. In 1957 she is selected for the England tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Edna’s Test debut was against New Zealand in the first Test, at Lancaster Park in Christchurch of the 1957/58 tour. She took a wicket in each innings and scored a duck in her only outing with the bat. The second Test, at Eden Park in Auckland was a similar tale.
To Australia and the second Test at Melbourne, the Betty Wilson Test, where nobody apart from Mary Duggan and Betty Wilson did much at all, but at the Adelaide Oval, coming in at number nine she scored 50 not out and shared a record 10th wicket partnership of 78 runs with Helene Hegarty. Sir Donald Bradman was present to witness and praised the innings.
Upon returning home, Edna sees no Test cricket again until the summer of 1963, playing in the third Test of the series against Australia. Another break of three years and she is now batting at number four alongside new captain, Rachael Heyhoe. She celebrates with a century partnership with the captain against New Zealand at Scarborough.
It was on her second tour to Australia, in 1968/9 that Edna broke through and scored her one and only century in Test cricket, an even hundred at Melbourne. Again it was in a century partnership with her captain.
In total Edna played 15 Tests from 1957/58 to 1968/69 scoring 425 runs at 25.05, with one century and three half centuries. She took 16 wickets at 37.50 with a best of 4-94. Edna passed away in March of 2019.