Lives in Cricket No 10 - John Shepherd

in their first own innings, with Shepherd absent hurt, they could only muster 161, and when England scored 240 in their second knock (with the West Indian attack hampered by Shepherd’s absence) they were set an improbable 303 to win in the fourth innings of the match. But at 219 for three, with Butcher going strong (91 not out), they were in with more than a chance – but the cricket gods were not with them. Butcher was given out in controversial fashion; Sobers played an injudicious shot and was out for nought and Clive Lloyd followed immediately. Shepherd came in at No.8 with strapping all round his frame to try and reduce the back pain. He survived six balls before his great friends Knott and Underwood combined to send him back to the pavilion, caught behind. ‘Contrived’ might put it better for, to this day, Shepherd claims that he did not hit the ball – and even Derek Underwood will graciously admit, when pushed, that this was a lucky umpiring decision and that he really should be in the records with 296 not 297 Test wickets! Years later Basil D’Oliveira, who was fielding close to the wicket at the time of Shepherd’s dismissal, confirmed privately to John that there had been no snick and that he had been very unlucky. The West Indies were bowled out for 272 to lose the match by 30 runs and the series 2-0. It had not been an entirely happy tour for this transitional West Indies team. In the dressing room there were occasional squabbles and rivalries based on nationality and Shepherd remembers how the peacemaker was often the highly respected and senior member of the side, the Guyanan Lance Gibbs, rather than the captain. Sobers’ leadership was always more by example on the field of play than hands-on guidance off it and in the Test series this example was modest – 150 runs at 30.00 and 11 wickets at 28.90. The tour established for Shepherd firm friendships that would endure – with his countryman Sobers and especially with the slightly younger Clive Lloyd. On reflection John Shepherd feels that he underachieved on the tour – especially his batting where he scored only 186 runs in 16 innings at an average of 13.28. He also feels that he should have taken more than 29 wickets in the 13 first-class matches in which he played, although his 12 wickets, at 22.16, in the Test matches was the best return by any bowler and he headed the averages comfortably. However as shrewd an observer as John Woodcock wrote in The Cricketer at the end of the series: ‘Shepherd had come on splendidly as an allrounder’. Peter Short, who assisted Clyde Walcott on the tour and was in later life to be a president of the West Indies Cricket Board, said in the same magazine that ‘John Shepherd’s contribution must also be mentioned; West Indies have never had a bowler of Shepherd’s type on tour in England. He proved invaluable under English conditions and was always considered a key member of the side.’ After the end of the tour, in mid-July, John Shepherd returned to Kent and he recalls vividly the contrast between the excitement and the packed arenas of the Test matches and the relative peace and quiet of the county game. It was something of a comedown and a return to reality – especially at grounds like Derby where the ‘crowds’ were usually pitifully small. The Testing Times 49