Born to a large, poor family in Ballarat, Beames' lucky break came when he was awarded a scholarship to Ballarat College.[1] He ended up captaining the school in Australian football, cricket, athletics and tennis.
Cricket career
Beames became a member of the South Melbourne Cricket Club for the 1929/1930 season. In 1931 he moved to the Melbourne Cricket Club. Beames represented Victoria on 18 occasions between 1933 and 1946, scoring 1186 runs at 51.56. During this time he scored three first-class centuries with a highest score of 226 not out in 1938 at Launceston. Beames was appointed captain of Victoria for the first post-war season in 1945. He, however, left cricket the year after this to concentrate on a career in football.
Footballing career
Beames in 1944
Beames joined Melbourne in 1931 and soon established himself as the club's rover. In his first two seasons he polled well in the Brownlow Medal, finishing equal fifth on both occasions. He was part of their hat-trick of premierships that went from 1939 to 1941 and captain-coached Melbourne from 1942 to 1944.