Don Shepherd
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Donald John Shepherd, born at Port Eynon, Glamorgan, on August 12, 1927, was a cricketer who played for Glamorgan and took more first-class wickets than any other player who never played Test cricket.
Shepherd began his county career in 1950 as a fast-medium bowler, and was a regular in the Glamorgan team in 1952, when he took 120 wickets. Over the next three seasons, howevber, he was less successful and appeared to lose some control. Under advice from team-mates, he switched late in 1955 to bowling off-cutters – off breaks with a pronounced undercut delivered at almost medium pace. The move was an instant success. In 1956, Shepherd took 177 wickets, more than any other player in that English first-class season, and he took more than 100 wickets in 12 seasons in all. On bad wickets, he could be devastating; on good wickets, his accuracy and the speed of delivery meant that he was usually economical.
Shepherd maintained his fitness into his mid-40s, and was an integral part of the Glamorgan side that won the County Championship in 1969. He was rewarded by being named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1970, and he celebrated that accolade by taking more wickets, 106, in the 1970 season than any other player in the English first-class game.
In a batting side that often had some real rabbits – Jeff Jones, Ossie Wheatley – Shepherd batted perhaps higher up the order than he might have done in other teams. He averaged less than 10 runs per innings, and reached 50 just five times. But occasionally, his batting came together and in 1961 he scored 51 in 15 minutes against the Australians at Swansea, reaching that score with just 11 scoring strokes. Seven years later, he captained Glamorgan to victory against the 1968 Australians on the same ground.
Shepherd retired from first-class cricket after a few games in 1972.
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