[3] During the Second World War, he moved with his family to the nearby town of Havant to escape the threat posed by the Portsmouth Blitz.

[3] He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, where he was noted as being a talented sportsman in cricket, football, and rugby union.

[8] By the 1955 season, Barnard had established himself in the Hampshire middle order, becoming an integral member of an increasingly successful team.

[4] He played fewer games (22) the following season,[6] but did make his highest first-class score, with an unbeaten 128 runs against the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's.

[8] Barnard had a poor start to the 1961 season, scoring just 154 runs in ten innings and subsequently lost his place in the Hampshire team.

However, a back injury to Hampshire captain Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie saw him return to the side,[5] with Barnard encountering his best form as a player.

Barnard played a series of noteworthy innings, most notably scoring an aggressive 114 runs against Warwickshire in mid-August, which sent Hampshire top of the table.

Barnard was a member of Hampshire's team for their inaugural appearance in List A one-day cricket against Derbyshire in the 1963 Gillette Cup, with him making 98 runs batting at number three.

[13] The Daily Telegraph noted that he did not score the amount of runs throughout his career that he perhaps should have,[2] with The Independent echoing a similar sentiment by suggesting that he had not fully fulfilled the "rich promise" of his early years.

[14] He continued to play football, albeit at non-League level, signing for Chelmsford City in 1959,[14][16] with the club able to match Portsmouth's £20 a week wage.

[4][14] After the end of his first-class cricket career, Barnard became a mature student at King Alfred's College in Winchester.

[4][18] However, while on a cricket tour of British Army bases in West Germany, he was seriously injured when his minibus driver fell asleep at the wheel.

The resultant crash broke his neck and gave him severe spinal injuries, which afflicted him for the rest of his life.

[2] He recovered sufficiently to coach cricket at the Warsash School of Navigation, while also working as a commentator for BBC Radio Solent and Southampton Hospitals.