Famous Cricketers No 49 - Don Shepherd

1967/68 – Commonwealth XI in Pakistan Despite his great county success Shepherd never managed to find a place in an England side which at times included three off spinners – Allen, Titmus and Illingworth. His only chance of representative cricket came in the Commonwealth XI tours which kept international cricket alive in Pakistan before Test teams had the will – and in many cases the resources – to tour there. Richie Benaud was captain of the tour in early 1968. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 538. Commonwealth XI v South Zone, Karachi, February 25, 26, 27 (South Zone won by three wickets) did not bat - 205-8d 19 6 35 1 Mahmoodul Hasan c R.M.Prideaux 164-4d 1 did not bat - 163-6d 9 0 40 0 205-7 539. Commonwealth XI v Pakistan, Multan, March 1, 2, 3, 4 (Pakistan won by 105 runs) c Zulfiqar b Intikhab Alam 0 298 29 11 49 3 Hanif Mohammad lbw 366 Asif Iqbal c K.D.Boyce Intikhab Alam c A.R.Lewis b Zulfiqar 4 132 14 6 38 2 Saeed Ahmed c A.R.Lewis 169-5d Asif Iqbal c A.R.Lewis 540. Commonwealth XI v Central Zone, Sargodha, March 6, 7, 8 (Commonwealth XI won by nine wickets) c Niaz Ahmed b Javed Bhatti 0 285-9d 7 2 11 2 Aftab Gul lbw 120 Masood Akhtar lbw did not bat - 46-1 15 6 23 0 209 541. Commonwealth XI v Pakistan, Lahore, March 15, 16, 17, 18 (Match drawn) did not bat - 304-7d 19 4 54 0 381-7d did not bat - 341-6d 14 5 36 2 Asif Iqbal c K.Shuttleworth 226-7 Intikhab Alam c R.Benaud 542. Commonwealth XI v BCCP President’s XI, Rawalpindi, March 24, 25, 26 (Match drawn) not out 0 336 - - - - 374-7d did not bat - 184-6 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 50 Ct Tour 5 4 1 4 4 1.33 - 1 Career 542 708 196 4985 73 9.73 4 219 Bowling O M R W Ave BB 5wi 10wm Tour 126 40 286 10 28.60 3/49 - - Career 17670 5869 38654 1843 20.97 9/47 112 26 1968 The change in fortunes between 1967 and 1968 was amazing. Glamorgan, strengthened by Majid Khan, shot up the table to third place and at one time were challenging Yorkshire for the title. It was not a vintage Shepherd year, and he ended sixth in the county averages, even though he took most wickets. There was also the excitement of a second win against the Australians, this time with Shepherd as captain. Glamorgan scored 224 by tea on the first day. By close of play Malcolm Nash and the second off-spinner, Brian Lewis, had six wickets down and next morning the Australians were all out for 110. Glamorgan set them 365 to win on the last day. Shepherd had a merry knock, hitting Mallett for two 6s and reaching 5,000 runs in first-class cricket. The visitors were bowled out for 285. Eight years on from his benefit Shepherd was given a testimonial year which realised £5,000. 57