Sydney William Ward (5 August 1907 – 31 December 2010) was an Australian-born New Zealand cricketer. Ward was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace.
 Syd Ward in December 1933 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sydney William Ward | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 August 1907 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 31 December 2010 (aged 103) Featherston, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1929/30–1937/38 | Wellington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 9 July 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From the death of Frank Shipston on 6 July 2005 until his death, Ward was considered the oldest living first-class cricketer and the second oldest ever, behind Jim Hutchinson.[1] Following his death, Cyril Perkins became the oldest living first-class cricketer.[2]
Ward was born in Sydney, Australia – hence his name – and moved to New Zealand in 1917 prior to playing first-class cricket for Wellington in the late 1920s. Alongside cricket, when he was young he was also proficient at rugby, athletics, and football.[3]
His first-class debut for Wellington came in the 1929/30 Plunket Shield against Otago.[4] From 1929/30 to 1937/38, he represented Wellington in 10 first-class matches, with his final first-class match coming against Canterbury.[5] In his 20 first-class innings, he scored 282 runs at a batting average of 14.84, with a single half century high score of 61, which came against Auckland in the 1934/35 season.[6] In 1937–38 he was the leading batsman in Wellington senior club cricket, with 642 runs at an average of 64.20 for Kilbirnie, who won the championship.[7][8]
He played representative rugby for Wellington between 1931 and 1934, when a broken leg ended his football career.[9]
Ward served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force in World War II, stationed at Nelson.[10][11] He worked as a watchmaker – initially as his father's apprentice[3] – and jeweller in Wellington until 1982, then retired to the Wairarapa farming village of Kaiwaiwai, between Featherston and Martinborough.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Jim Hutchinson
- ^ Bolton, Paul (4 June 2011). "Rare cricketing century for Cyril Perkins". The Wisden Cricketer. thecricketer.com. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
- ^ a b Julia Wall (2007). "Ninety-nine Not Out". New Zealand School Journal. 2 (2): 29–32.
- ^ Otago v Wellington, 1929/30
- ^ First-Class Matches played by Syd Ward
- ^ Auckland v Wellington, 1934/35
- ^ "The Cricket Field". Evening Post. CXXVI (98): 23. 22 October 1938. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "Cricket Champions: Kilbirnie's Record". Evening Post. CXXV (84): 23. 9 April 1938. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "Still on the ball at 100". Stuff.co.nz. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
- ^ "Sydney William Ward". Auckland Museum. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
- ^ "Orchard Manager's Death". Nelson Evening Mail: 2. 6 January 1943.
External links
edit- Syd Ward at ESPNcricinfo
- Syd Ward at CricketArchive (subscription required)