Don Beard

Who was Don Beard?

Donald Derek Beard was a New Zealand cricketer who played in four Tests from 1952 to 1956.

He grew up in the country near Palmerston North, cycling 15 miles a day to attend Palmerston North Boys' High School. 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. In the 1951-52 Plunket Shield season he took 16 wickets at 27.25 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 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. 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".

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". 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. 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. But that was his last Test.