| Syd Ward | |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Fullname: | Sydney William Ward |
| Birth Date: | 5 August 1907 |
| Birth Place: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Death Place: | Featherston, New Zealand |
| Batting: | Right-handed |
| Bowling: | Right-arm medium |
| Club1: | Wellington |
| Year1: | 1929/30–1937/38 |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 10 |
| Runs1: | 282 |
| Bat Avg1: | 14.84 |
| 100S/50S1: | –/1 |
| Top Score1: | 61 |
| Deliveries1: | 36 |
| Wickets1: | – |
| Bowl Avg1: | – |
| Fivefor1: | – |
| Tenfor1: | – |
| Best Bowling1: | – |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 9/- |
| Date: | 9 July |
| Year: | 2010 |
| Source: | http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/38794.html Cricinfo |
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.
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.