# David Halfyard > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Halfyard > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Halfyard.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Halfyard > Source revision: 1347682616 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English cricketer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Use British English|date=February 2013}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = David Halfyard | image = File:DJ Halfyard.jpg | country = England | fullname = David John Halfyard | birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|4|3|df=yes}} | birth_place = [Winchmore Hill](/source/Winchmore_Hill), [Middlesex](/source/Middlesex) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1996|8|23|1931|4|3|df=yes}} | death_place = [Northam](/source/Northam%2C_Devon), [Devon](/source/Devon) | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right-arm [fast-medium](/source/Fast_bowling) | role = | club1 = [Kent](/source/Kent_County_Cricket_Club) | year1 = 1956–1964 | club2 = [Nottinghamshire](/source/Nottinghamshire_County_Cricket_Club) | year2 = 1968–1970 | club3 = [Durham](/source/Durham_County_Cricket_Club) | year3 = 1971–1972 | club4 = [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland_County_Cricket_Club) | year4 = 1973 | club5 = [Cornwall](/source/Cornwall_County_Cricket_Club) | year5 = 1974–1982 | columns = 2 | column1 = [First-class](/source/First-class_cricket) | matches1 = 264 | runs1 = 3,242 | bat avg1 = 10.91 | 100s/50s1 = 0/2 | top score1 = 79 | deliveries1 = 55,815 | wickets1 = 963 | bowl avg1 = 25.77 | fivefor1 = 55 | tenfor1 = 13 | best bowling1 = 9/39 | catches/stumpings1 = 112/– | column2 = [List A](/source/List_A_cricket) | matches2 = 44 | runs2 = 228 | bat avg2 = 7.60 | 100s/50s2 = 0/0 | top score2 = 25 | deliveries2 = 2,353 | wickets2 = 59 | bowl avg2 = 23.69 | fivefor2 = 0 | tenfor2 = 0 | best bowling2 = 4/19 | catches/stumpings2 = 13/– | date = 18 October | year = 2010 | source = http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/13998.html CricInfo }} '''David John Halfyard''' (3 April 1931 – 23 August 1996) was an English professional [cricket](/source/cricket)er who played [first-class cricket](/source/first-class_cricket) for [Kent County Cricket Club](/source/Kent_County_Cricket_Club) and [Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club](/source/Nottinghamshire_County_Cricket_Club) between 1956 and 1970. He was primarily a bowler and took nearly 1,000 wickets during his first-class career. He also played [Minor County cricket](/source/Minor_County_cricket) for [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland_County_Cricket_Club), [Durham](/source/Durham_County_Cricket_Club) and [Cornwall](/source/Cornwall_County_Cricket_Club). Following a road traffic accident in 1962, Halfyard retired from cricket to become an [umpire](/source/Umpire_(cricket)) but was able to return to the game in 1968. ==Early life== Halfyard was born at [Winchmore Hill](/source/Winchmore_Hill) in [Middlesex](/source/Middlesex) in 1931. He was educated at Purley County Grammar School after a family move to Surrey. He played youth cricket for clubs at [Banstead](/source/Banstead) and [Beddington](/source/Beddington).[http://history.trentbridge.co.uk/players/david-halfyard.html#.Wes5LkzGxzg David Halfyard], Obituary, [Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club](/source/Nottinghamshire_County_Cricket_Club). Retrieved 21 October 2017. ==Cricket career== Halfyard played one cricket match for the [Army](/source/British_Army_cricket_team) whilst on [national service](/source/national_service) in 1954 and then joined [Surrey](/source/Surrey_County_Cricket_Club) as a young professional, playing for the Second XI in 1954 and 1955. He was unable to break into the First XI and left Surrey for [Kent](/source/Kent_County_Cricket_Club) after the 1955 season. ===Kent career and accident=== Halfyard made his [first-class](/source/first-class_cricket) debut for [Kent](/source/Kent_County_Cricket_Club) in 1956 against [Cambridge University](/source/Cambridge_University_Cricket_Club). His debut in the [County Championship](/source/County_Championship) came in that same season against [Derbyshire](/source/Derbyshire_County_Cricket_Club) and he took 58 wickets during the season for Kent. He was described in 1957 as a bowler with "controlled variation of length and flight and the ability to cut his low-trajectory deliveries back from the off quite sharply" and he bowled consistently for Kent, taking 100 wickets in each season between 1957 and 1961, his last full season with the county. He played for Kent in 185 first-class matches, taking 769 wickets, including [five wickets in an innings](/source/five_wicket_haul) 49 times and [ten wickets in a match](/source/ten_wickets_in_a_match) 13 times. His best figures were 9/39 in 1957 against [Glamorgan](/source/Glamorgan_County_Cricket_Club), the season in which he was awarded his [county cap](/source/county_cap).[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6194/6194.html David Halfyard], CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 October 2017.[http://www.kentcricket.co.uk/news/kent-v-glamorgan-match-history/ Kent v Glamorgan: match history], [Kent County Cricket Club](/source/Kent_County_Cricket_Club), 9 May 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2017. During the 1962 season he took 98 wickets before he was involved in a head-on collision in a road traffic accident whilst driving to a Kent match against [Somerset](/source/Somerset_County_Cricket_Club) at [Weston-super-Mare](/source/Clarence_Park%2C_Weston-super-Mare). He was badly injured, including breaking his leg, and played only one club match in 1963 whilst attempting to regain his fitness. He played some Second XI cricket and appeared two matches in 1964 before injuring his [achilles tendon](/source/achilles_tendon) and was released by Kent, although the county arranged a benefit season in 1965 which raised over £3,000.Carey D (undated) [http://history.trentbridge.co.uk/players/david-halfyard-courage-in-adversity.html#.Wes5NUzGxzg David Halfyard – Courage in adversity], [Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club](/source/Nottinghamshire_County_Cricket_Club). Retrieved 21 October 2017. Halfyard retired from first-class cricket, although he played as a professional for [Greenock](/source/Greenock) in Scotland in 1966 and in 1967 qualified as a first-class [umpire](/source/umpire_(cricket)), having failed to attract any interest from first-class counties as a player. ===Return to cricket with Nottinghamshire=== After his accident and injury Halfyard was claiming [industrial injury benefit](/source/Incapacity_Benefit) and umpiring on the first-class panel. Before a match between [Nottinghamshire](/source/Nottinghamshire_County_Cricket_Club) and [Sussex](/source/Sussex_County_Cricket_Club) he was bowling in the nets and attracted the interest of some of Nottinghamshire's players. After two trials at the end of the season he was offered a one-year contract – becoming perhaps the only cricketer to retire from first-class cricket, become an umpire, and later return to the first-class game.[http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/228764.html Halfyard, David], Obituaries in 1996, ''[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack](/source/Wisden_Cricketers'_Almanack)'', 1997. Retrieved 21 October 2017. He made his first-class debut for Nottinghamshire against [Middlesex](/source/Middlesex_County_Cricket_Club) in 1968, a season in which, despite questionable fitness, he played every match. Halfyard played 77 times for Nottinghamshire from 1968 to 1970, with his final first-class match coming for the county against Kent. He was capped in 1968 and took 194 wickets for the county, with six five wicket hauls and best figures of 6/14, taken in a match against [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire_County_Cricket_Club) which Halfyard "virtually won" single-handed. He also played in 38 one-day matches, the last of which came against [Surrey](/source/Surrey_County_Cricket_Club) in the [1970 John Player League](/source/1970_John_Player_League). ===Minor Counties Cricket=== Following the end of his first-class career, Halfyard joined [Durham](/source/Durham_County_Cricket_Club), playing 14 times for the county in the [Minor Counties Championship](/source/Minor_Counties_Championship) and in one match in the [1972 Gillette Cup](/source/1972_Gillette_Cup). He also played for [Minor Counties North](/source/Minor_Counties_North) against [Yorkshire](/source/Yorkshire_County_Cricket_Club) in the [1972 Benson & Hedges Cup](/source/1972_Benson_%26_Hedges_Cup). He moved to [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland_County_Cricket_Club) in 1973, as well as playing again for Minor Counties North in the [1973 Benson & Hedges Cup](/source/1973_Benson_%26_Hedges_Cup). In all three seasons playing for Durham and Northumberland he was his county's leading wicket taker. Halfyard joined [Cornwall](/source/Cornwall_County_Cricket_Club) in 1974, playing 27 times for the county between 1974 and 1982 in the Minor Counties Championship and in two List A matches. He led the Minor Counties bowling averages in his first season with the county, taking 74 wickets at a [bowling average](/source/bowling_average) of 9.71 runs. ==Later life== Halfyard returned to the first-class umpires panel whilst still representing Cornwall in 1977, although he only played a few matches for the county. He left the first-class umpires panel in 1981 but continued to stand as an umpire until 1996, when his final match standing as an umpire in a [county](/source/county_cricket) match came in a Minor Counties Championship match between Cornwall and Devon. He also played for [Devon Over-50s](/source/Devon_County_Cricket_Club) from 1988 to 1993. He was still bowling with some success in the [Devon Cricket League](/source/Devon_Cricket_League) for Tiverton Heathcoat Cricket Club weeks before his death in August 1996 in [Northam, Devon](/source/Northam%2C_Devon), at the age of 65. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Portal|Cornwall}} *{{cricinfo|id=13998}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Halfyard, David}} Category:1931 births Category:1996 deaths Category:People from Winchmore Hill Category:English cricketers Category:Kent cricketers Category:North v South cricketers Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:Nottinghamshire cricketers Category:Durham cricketers Category:Minor Counties cricketers Category:Northumberland cricketers Category:Cornwall cricketers Category:English cricket umpires Category:International Cavaliers cricketers Category:20th-century English sportsmen --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [David Halfyard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Halfyard) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Halfyard?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.