Lives in Cricket No 10 - John Shepherd

Chapter Three Testing Times I have always tried to play my cricket the Shep way. It saddens me … that he has played no more than a handful of Test matches for his native West Indies. They are the losers. Ian Botham, John Shepherd Benefit Souvenir, 1979 At the beginning of 1968 the West Indies could justifiably boast that they were unofficial cricket world champions. Successive series wins under Frank Worrell against India and England and then under Worrell’s successor Garry Sobers against Australia, England again and India in India (that most difficult of Test match challenges) had placed them firmly at the top of the pile. But the home series loss to Colin Cowdrey’s resolute England side in early 1968 dented the West Indies pride – not least that of Sobers who was criticised for the ‘sporting’ declaration in the Fourth Test which opened the opportunity for England to secure a famous victory. The West Indies should probably have at least tied that series, and might have won it narrowly, but nevertheless there were clear signs that the players who had lorded it over the rest of the world for so long were beginning to feel the strain and, in some cases, the pain of pushing ageing limbs and muscles to the limit. Sobers and Murray (Nottinghamshire), Kanhai and Gibbs (Warwickshire), and Lloyd (Lancashire) were all to play a full and tiring English county season in 1968 (37 matches in Sobers’ case) before the next international challenge – a 23-match tour to Australia in 1968/69 including five Test matches. The fast-bowling partners Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith were looking as if they were reaching the end of their careers, as were the batsmen Nurse and Butcher. The team was in a state of flux and whilst places were not exactly up for grabs John Shepherd, after his good first season for Kent, had hopes that he would be in the West Indian party for the Australian tour when it was announced in April – fully five months before the team left for Australia. In the event the West Indies selectors ignored Shepherd’s claims and picked a side primarily on the basis of past heroics rather than rawer promise. Had the team been selected nearer the departure date in October then surely Shepherd would have got the nod after his marvellous 1968 season for Kent? It may be that the selectors (especially Sobers himself) felt that with Sobers in the side there was no need for another allrounder and omitted Shepherd. The indications are that it was a close call and that Shepherd was unlucky to miss out. There was, as always, the wish to balance the side across the islands – a problem that has bedevilled West Indian selection frequently 42