A right-arm fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting lower order batsman,[1] Budd made his debut in first-class cricket for Hampshire against Leicestershire at Bournemouth in the 1934 County Championship.
[13] Budd stood in his first Test match alongside Bill Alley in 1976, when England played the West Indies at Old Trafford.
The match was controversial due to the West Indian bowlers, led by Michael Holding, subjecting the England batsman, notably openers John Edrich and Brian Close, to a barrage of bouncers.
Pat Pocock considered Budd's lack of action as being down to him standing in his first Test match and not wanting to rock the boat; eventually, after 162 minutes of hostile bowling, Alley issued a reprimand for 'intimidation'.
[14] Following the match, there were calls to ban the use of bouncers, with the Marylebone Cricket Club responding with only a marginal strengthening of the regulations governing their use.
[12][11] Wisden noted that "apart from war service with the county police, his whole life was given to cricket, playing, coaching or umpiring".