Back at the Oval Barrington had another poor season making only one century and was even dropped from the Surrey team and given the task of transporting the team kit from venue to venue. As a result, he re-worked his batting technique to get behind the ball to improve his defence against in-swing and off-spin. This was coupled with a change of attitude encouraged by Alec Bedser and Jim Laker; he forsook the big hitting of his youth and became a stonewaller, making runs with the minimum of risk. This required endless net-practice and training at Gover's cricket school, but by 1958 Barrington emerged as one of the best batsmen in England.