Fred Baring
Personal information
Full name Frederick Albert Baring
Date of birth 15 December 1890
Place of birth Hotham East, Victoria
Date of death 10 December 1961(1961-12-10) (aged 70)
Place of death Doncaster, Victoria
Original team(s) East Melbourne
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 90 kg (198 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1910–1924 Essendon 154 (92)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1924.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com
Fred Baring
Cricket information
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm off-spin
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1911/12–1928/29Victoria
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 30
Runs scored 1846
Batting average 32.96
100s/50s 2/11
Top score 131
Balls bowled 538
Wickets 5
Bowling average 57.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 2/23
Catches/stumpings 21/–
Source: Cricinfo, 14 August 2022

Frederick Albert Baring (15 December 1890 – 10 December 1961) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the early 1900s. In 1997 he was named at fullback in Essendon's official Team of the Century. He also played first-class cricket for Victoria.

Family

The son of Frederick John Baring (1857–1917),[1] and Annie Baring (−1935), née Riley,[2] Frederick Albert Baring was born in North Melbourne (then known as "East Hotham") on 15 December 1890.

He married Minnie Sybil Horne (−1940) in 1916,[3] and Edith Lillian Ackary in February 1944.[4]

Football

A four-times premiership player with Essendon (1911, 1912, 1923, 1924), Baring started his career as a ruckman and ended it as a fullback.

He kicked the winning goal in the 1912 Grand Final and captained Essendon for eight matches in the 1918 VFL season.[5]

In 1913 he won the Essendon Best and Fairest award. He was a VFL interstate representative at the 1911 Adelaide Carnival. During his career Baring played under the pseudonym "Adamson", when he was unable to get approved leave to play in the VFL from his employer.[6]

Cricket

Baring was also a successful cricketer and played Sheffield Shield matches for Victoria.[7][8] A right-handed batsman, he managed a total of 30 first-class matches between 1911–12 and 1928–29, scoring 1846 runs at 32.96.

Following the death of Victor Trumper, Baring was recognised as the best batsman in Australia on poor pitches.[9] He made his highest score of 131 opening the batting for Victoria against New South Wales in December 1918.[10]

He came close to playing Test cricket for Australia after being named in their squad to tour South Africa in 1914–15,[11][12][13] but the series was canceled due to World War I.[14][9]

Death

Baring died in the Melbourne suburb of Doncaster on 10 December 1961.[15]

Champions of Essendon

In 2002 an Essendon panel ranked Baring at 24 in their Champions of Essendon list of the 25 greatest players ever to have played for Essendon.[16]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Deaths: Baring, The Argus, (Thursday, 17 May 1917), p. 1.
  2. ^ Deaths: Baring, The Age, (Thursday, 26 September 1935), p. 1.
  3. ^ Deaths: Baring, The Argus, (Saturday, 27 April 1940), p. 4.
  4. ^ Baring—Ackary, The Argus, (Monday, 21 February 1944), p. 6.
  5. ^ Maplestone (1996), p. 368 (he was unavailable for the second, third, and fourth matches of the season through injury, and for the last three matches of the season through illness (ibid., p. 459)).
  6. ^ Rodgers, Stephen (1996). 100 Years of AFL players – Volume 1. Melbourne: East-Side Printing. p. 2. ISBN 0646300164.
  7. ^ Brilliant as a Batsman and Follower, The Weekly Times, (Saturday 17 August 1918), p. 20.
  8. ^ 'Rover', "Champion Footballer and Cricketer: Fred. Baring's Deeds", The Weekly Times, (Saturday 17 August 1918), p. 20.
  9. ^ a b Atkinson, p. 181.
  10. ^ "Victoria v New South Wales 1918-19". CricketArchive. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  11. ^ Baring in a Quandary, The Herald, (Monday, 22 June 1914), p10.
  12. ^ Information Wanted, The Herald, (Friday, 26 June 1914), p. 3.
  13. ^ "Baring" Accidents: Cricketer Insures Himself in Order to Play Football, The (Adelaide) Daily Herald, (Monday, 6 July 1914), p. 5.
  14. ^ Test Cricket Tours – Australia to South Africa 1914–15 (Tour Cancelled), Test Cricket Tours.
  15. ^ Deaths: Baring, The Age, (Tuesday, 12 December 1961), p. 16.
  16. ^ Champions of Essendon, Essendon Football Club, 30 August 2002.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fred Baring.
Essendon Football Club 1911/12 VFL premiers
Essendon Football Club 1923/24 VFL premiers
Captains of the Essendon Football Club
Essendon Football Club · Team of the Century 1896–1997
Crichton Medal · Essendon Football Club best and fairest winners
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