Barnes' association with Lancashire began in 1899 when he played for the club's Second XI against Staffordshire in a match at the County Ground, Stoke-on-Trent on 10 and 11 July. He took ten wickets in the match including a match-winning analysis of eight for 38 in the second innings. In August, he made his first-team debut for Lancashire and played in two County Championship matches against Sussex and Surrey but he had only moderate success with a best return of three for 99 against Surrey. He rejected an offer to join the Lancashire ground staff, preferring to remain in better-paid league cricket, which he could combine with full-time employment as a clerk in a Staffordshire colliery.