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Keith Barker is a burly left-arm bowler and left-hand batsman, representing Hampshire at the county level. He is a former footballer who played for England at age-group levels. As a footballer, he came through the academy for Blackburn Rovers, he dropped to Rochdale Town and then Northwich Victoria, before moving into cricket. Born in Manchester, the all-rounder hails from a sporting background. His father was a former fast bowling all-rounder for British Guiana and he is the godson of former West Indies captain Sir Clive Lloyd. At the age of 16, he declined a Lancashire contract to play football, but by the time he was 21, it became apparent that football was not the future for him. Barker first made the move to playing cricket in 2008 when he joined Warwickshire. The southpaw spent a decade playing for the Birmingham-based county to bag as many as 357 First-Class wickets and notch six FC centuries. He played a major role in Warwickshire’s Championship winning season in 2012 and later was selected in the England Lions squad. The Manchester-born moved to Hampshire by the end of the 2018 season. Barker picked up 37 wickets in his maiden county season at the Ageas Bowl, also scoring 357 runs at 25.50. In the following season, he played just two Bob Wills Cup games, where he claimed 7 wickets. At the south coast club, Barker has formed a formidable seam-attack alongside Mohammad Abbas, Fidel Edwards, and Kyle Abbot. The all-rounder has begun the 2021 County Championship, showing some spark, and would be hoping to make Hampshire win their first title since 1973. (As of September 2021)
