Lives in Cricket No 10 - John Shepherd

day, shortly after they had moved in, Terry was entering the apartment block and the superintendent on duty saw her walking towards the lift and said: ‘Excuse me, dear, you are supposed to use the stairs,’ a remark that was greeted by Terry (who was a feisty lady and who had been a sympathiser of the Black Power movement when a young woman) with both barrels! The cricket was multi-racial in that Sunrise, an Indian team, played against other Asian and white teams – although each of the teams was not racially mixed – so John Shepherd was perhaps an ‘honorary Indian’ when he played for Sunrise! The standard of cricket was not high – Sunrise played in the second division of the Rhodesian Cricket League and not surprisingly Shepherd was the star and these performances became known to the selectors of the Rhodesian team. The rules of the South African competitions, the Currie Cup and the Gillette Cup, allowed only one non-Southern African to play in any one match. For Rhodesia that player was now the English fast bowler Robin Jackman who had been playing in South African domestic cricket for five years – initially for Western Province and latterly for Rhodesia. 90 Jackman was carrying a niggling injury in late November and was out of form and John Shepherd was selected to replace him in the Rhodesian side for a Currie Cup match against Transvaal in Salisbury. He therefore became the first black man to play Currie Cup cricket. His selection was welcomed by Billy Woodin, the South African cricket official who had previously doubted his eligibility, who now said: ‘I’m indeed very happy to see he has been selected. I’m sure that he’ll add a lot of colour and excitement to the Currie Cup.’ 91 Shepherd’s selection was also marked by an offer of sponsorship from Shell Rhodesia. 92 He performed well in this first match, scoring a bright half-century, having been given a standing ovation by the crowd as he came out to bat. The innings characteristically included a huge six which Shep ‘smashed with immense power over the commentary box for the biggest six I have seen at this ground’. 93 He also bowled economically in Transvaal’s first innings. When Transvaal batted again Shepherd came on first change and, in conditions which were ideal for his style, got the ball to swing prodigiously and bowled 13 overs for only 12 runs. The formidable Transvaal batsmen Clive Rice and Norman Featherstone began to restore the innings but the Rhodesian captain, Brian Davison, failed to throw the ball to Shepherd for another spell – much to Shepherd’s surprise – even when the batsmen reach a partnership of over 150! Today Shepherd believes that Davison was probably acting under orders not to allow him to bowl in case he took a Honorary White 76 90 In that 1975/76 domestic South Africa season other English players included Fred Titmus, Bob Woolmer and Phil Edmonds. 91 Reported in the Rhodesia Herald , November 1975. (The cutting is undated.) 92 Shell Rhodesia offered Shepherd up to $100 per match on the condition that he made no public mention of the offer. This was because Shell was allegedly involved in determined sanctions-busting operations to keep oil flowing to the rebel country and did not want to draw any attention to itself at all at the time. Shep got his $100 for each match! 93 Glen Byron in the Rhodesia Herald , 30 November 1975.