Graham Stuart Bunyard (17 October 1939 – 10 May 2018) was a South African cricketer who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

from 1959 to 1963. A fast bowler, Bunyard made his first-class debut for

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

in the 1959–60 season, on the day before he turned 20. His first two wickets were

Denis Compton Denis Charles Scott Compton (23 May 1918 – 23 April 1997) was an English multi-sportsman. As a cricketer he played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole career with Middlesex. As a footballer, he played as a winger and spent most of his ca ...

and

Godfrey Evans Thomas Godfrey Evans (18 August 1920 – 3 May 1999) was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England. Described by ''Wisden'' as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test matc ...

. In his third match he took 5 for 35 against

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

. He finished the season with 23 wickets in seven matches at an average of 21.78. He was one of the pace bowlers considered for selection for the tour to England in 1960 and later as a replacement during the tour when Geoff Griffin could no longer bowl, but he was not selected. Bunyard took 16 wickets at 24.31 in five matches in 1960–61 and toured England in 1961 with the

South African Fezela XI The South African Fezela XI (often known simply as the Fezelas) was a team of young South African cricketers who toured England in 1961 under the captaincy of the Test player Roy McLean. Several of the team later went on to play leading parts in t ...

of promising young players. He took 3 for 48 and 3 for 42 to help the Fezelas to an innings victory in the first-class match against

Combined Services The Combined Services cricket team represents the British Armed Forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lo ...

. However, he played only one more first-class match, for Rhodesia two years later, when he was still only 23 years old. His last three wickets were

Norm O'Neill Norman Clifford Louis O'Neill (19 February 1937 – 3 March 2008) was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressin ...

, John Reid and

Bill Alley William Edward Alley (3 February 1919 – 26 November 2004) was a cricketer who played 400 first-class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI. After retiring as a cricketer, Alley continued as a cricket umpire for many yea ...

. Bunyard became a tobacco farmer in Schagen, about 20 kilometres west of

Nelspruit Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, the city lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east of Johannesburg and north of ...

, in north-eastern Transvaal.

References

Sources

* Alfred, L. (2003) ''Testing Times: The Story of the Men who Made SA Cricket'', Spearhead: Claremont, South Africa. .

External links

*
Graham Bunyard at CricketArchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunyard, Graham 1939 births 2018 deaths Cricketers from Gqeberha South African cricketers Gauteng cricketers Rhodesia cricketers