But the Otago Volts left-arm spinner is ready to return to cricket with a fresh start after his bowling action was cleared by an International Cricket Council-accredited facility in Brisbane.
Beard's new action - the result of work with former New Zealand spinner Paul Wiseman - is within the legal limits allowed in the laws of cricket after the 25-year-old took himself out of the game in December to refine his action after concerns were raised.
''It's a huge relief and last summer was quite tough on me,'' he said.
''But looking back at the decision I made, in terms of being able to pull out and work on my action in my own time, I look back on it now and see it as a good decision, so I'm pretty happy with the outcome.
''I didn't want to take the risk of getting fully reported - that way, you're under the full ICC regulations. This way, I could do it it in my own time and work on my action the way I wanted to do it.''
The result is a legal action - one which is different in two areas of his delivery stride.
''If you look at a lot of the spinners who have been pulled up for an illegal action, most of them are front-on when they deliver the ball,'' Beard said.
''It's something we first identified ... trying to get side-on when I delivered the ball.''
Beard's previous action was also notable for the angle of his arm, which was past the vertical. That has now changed.
''Secondly, it was trying to get more round-arm with my bowling arm. At first I delivered it from at one o'clock and it's pulled it around to 11 o'clock.
''My release point is a little bit different as well and it affects the way I bowl. It's probably going to be a little bit flat and the trajectory of the ball will be a little bit different, so I see it as a bit of a fresh start for my career as well.''
The new action means Beard's deliveries will be slightly slower through the air at first, but he expects more pace will come with time.
''The speed will come when I get used to this new action and trying to use different body parts to put speed on the ball [rather] than relying on my arm - that's something that will be learnt.''
Beard was grateful to Wiseman, who made himself available to help Beard ''three or four times'' over the summer, as well as Otago network coach Mark Bracewell.
''Braces was always available for me to practise whenever I wanted, so I'm extremely grateful to everyone who helped out in the process.''
While Beard did play some club cricket for Albion in the second half of the season, he also used the time away from representative cricket to add a non-cricketing string to his bow.
''On the flipside of things, I've tried to develop myself a little bit outside of the game and I've been doing my real estate papers. That's something that made me look a little bit towards the future, because cricket's not always going to be there.''
Otago assistant coach Nathan King said the timing of Beard's clearance was fantastic, as the association prepared to go through its domestic contracting process for next season.
Beard was grateful to the Otago association for its support through the process but was taking nothing for granted as to the contracting process.
''It'd be nice to have that security, but I guess time will tell whether it happens or not,'' he said.
''I'm just happy to have cleared my name and given myself the best opportunity to get a contract.''
