Don Beard
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| Batting style | Right-hand bat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: Cricinfo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Donald Derek Beard (14 January 1920, Palmerston North, Manawatu – 15 July 1982, Lancaster, England) was a New Zealand cricketer who played in four Tests from 1952 to 1956.
Early life and career
Don Beard grew up in the country near Palmerston North, cycling 15 miles a day to attend Palmerston North Boys' High School.[1] After teacher training in Auckland, he attended Victoria University in Wellington.
An accurate fast-medium bowler and useful lower-order batsman, Beard made his first-class debut for Wellington in 1945-46, but did not play again until the creation of the Central Districts team in 1950-51.
Playing for New Zealand
In the 1951-52 Plunket Shield season he took 16 wickets at 27.25[2] and was selected for the two Tests against the touring West Indies side, taking four wickets.
He was a stalwart of the Central Districts team until 1960-61, taking 15 wickets and scoring 255 runs at 51.00[3] in 1953-54 when Central Districts won the Plunket Shield for the first time. He hit his top first-class score of 81 not out against Wellington during the season.[4] Dick Brittenden said Beard specialised in the sweep shot, and "would have made more runs in his colourful career had he not expended so much of his patience on bowling".[5]
He topped the bowling averages in the Plunket Shield in 1955-56 with 28 wickets at 10.64, "and 110 of his 217 overs were maidens".[6] After the visiting West Indies side won the first two Tests by an innings, they played Central Districts at Wanganui, where Beard top-scored in each innings, making 25 and 67, and took 3 for 52 and 2 for 59 (match figures of 50.1-20-111-5).[7] He returned to the Test team for the last two Tests, and played an important role in New Zealand's first-ever Test victory in the Fourth Test, making 31 and 6 not out and taking 1 for 20 and 3 for 22.[8] But that was his last Test.
Later career
His best innings and match figures came in 1956-57 against Otago in Dunedin, when he took 7 for 56 and 4 for 43 (match figures of 61.4-26-99-11) in a match that Otago nevertheless won.[9]
In 1961 he became principal of Te Aroha College in Waikato,[10] and played a few games for Northern Districts. In 1961-62 he took 5 for 70 and 6 for 71 against Auckland, and 5 for 60 and 3 for 36 in the next match against Wellington.[11] He played his last game in the 1964-65 season, just after turning 45.
He also played Hawke Cup cricket for Wanganui, Manawatu and Thames Valley.
He stood nearly six feet three inches tall.[12] He played basketball for New Zealand, was a notable amateur golfer, and played rugby union for Wellington, Wanganui (as captain) and North Island.[13]
He died in 1982 while on holiday in England after retiring as principal of Te Aroha College.[14]
References
- ↑ R.T. Brittenden, New Zealand Cricketers, A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1961, p. 20.
- ↑ Bowling averages, Plunket Shield, 1951-52
- ↑ Batting averages, Plunket Shield, 1953-54
- ↑ Wellington v Central Districts, 1953-54
- ↑ R.T. Brittenden, Great Days in New Zealand Cricket, A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1958, p. 179.
- ↑ Wisden 1957, p. 877.
- ↑ Central Districts v West Indians, 1955-56
- ↑ New Zealand v West Indies, Auckland 1955-56
- ↑ Otago v Central Districts, 1956-57
- ↑ Brittenden, New Zealand Cricketers, p. 23.
- ↑ Wisden 1963, p. 956.
- ↑ Brittenden, New Zealand Cricketers, p. 19.
- ↑ Dick Brittenden, "Don Beard", Cricketer, November 1982, p. 68.
- ↑ Brittenden, "Don Beard", p. 68.