Barnes joined the MCC tour of Australia in 1911–12 and played in all five Tests. In the first Test at Sydney, which England lost, captain Johnny Douglas shared the new ball with left-arm seamer Frank Foster. Barnes, disgusted at being made a change bowler, sulked and gave a performance that was well below par. At Melbourne, however, Douglas bowed to the pressure and surrendered the new ball to the Staffordshire bowler, who responded with a spell of four wickets for one run in his first five overs. His first four victims were Warren Bardsley, Charles Kelleway, Clem Hill and Warwick Armstrong. When Frank Foster dismissed Victor Trumper and Barnes added Roy Minnett, the home side were reduced to 38 for six. Barnes took 39 wickets in the series with three five-wicket hauls. These efforts led him to being retrospectively calculated as achieving the number one ranking in the ICC Test Bowler Rankings (he retained it for the next 2 years).