Keith Barker

BORN: 21/10/86, Manchester

ROLE: Left-arm fast-medium; Left-hand bat

BEST TWENTY20 PERFORMANCE: 4-19 v Worcestershire Royals at Edgbaston, 29/05/09

It’s often said that sporting talent runs in the genes, and that is obviously the case with this’ big-hitting allrounder, whose father played first-class cricket for British Guiana. A talented athlete who has played professional football for Blackburn Rovers and Rochdale, Barker played most of his youth cricket for Lancashire before joining the Edgbaston staff back in August 2008. Fiercely strong and deceptively quick, he is capable of generating appreciable lift from just back of a length with his slippery left-arm seamers and has established himself as a vital member of Warwickshire’s limited-overs attack. An emerging talent with the bat who loves to loft the ball straight back down the ground, he has scored heavily for the Warwickshire Second XI so far this season and could well find himself promoted up the order if the Bears find themselves in need of quick runs.