Don Shepherd, Glamorgan’s most successful bowler in the Club’s history, and a man who took more wickets than any other bowler never to play Test cricket, died on Friday evening barely a week after celebrating his 90th birthday.
Glamorgan will be paying tribute to Don Shepherd at tomorrow’s NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final at The SSE SWALEC, with all players wearing black arm bands for the match, the Glamorgan flag will be at half mast and both teams will join in a minute’s applause prior to the start of play.
Head Coach Robert Croft said, “Don Shepherd epitomised everything that a Glamorgan cricketer is about both on the field and off the field. He was a huge competitor and successful player on the field and what a person, an inspiration off it. It was very sad to lose Don, but as a Glamorgan man and supporter of Welsh cricket, we have been very lucky to have him.”
Regarded by contemporaries as amongst the finest bowlers of his generation, Don claimed 2,174 wickets for Glamorgan in first-class cricket, at a shade over 20 apiece, with his record for the county speaking volumes for his canny skills, initially as a fast bowler and later as an off-cutter, plus his fitness and perseverance over a career with the Welsh county from 1950 until 1972.
Born and raised in Port Eynon on the Gower Peninsula, ‘Shep’ played little formal cricket as a youngster and received little coaching, with the title of his biography “Born to Bowl” being most apt. His rise into professional cricket followed his National Service with the Fleet Air Arm in the West Midlands with Don’s abilities as a fast- medium bowler whilst playing for RAF Defford attracting the attention of officials from Worcestershire CCC. A place on the MCC groundstaff was secured for 1948 and a possible contract with the West Midlands club, but his prowess had also come to the attention of Glamorgan captain Wilf Wooller and with the Welsh county seeking new bowling resources, Don went to Lord’s as a Glamorgan cricketer.
In 1950 Don made his first-class debut against Surrey at The Oval – a ground which twenty-three years later was to see Don’s final appearance in Championship cricket. He duly met with much success as a seam bowler, taking 120 wickets in 1952 before two years later claiming career-best figures of 9/47 against Northamptonshire at the Arms Park. However, he lost form and penetration during 1955, and he found it difficult to regularly hit the seam. After seeking advice from Wilf Wooller and other senior players, ‘Shep’ decided to convert to off-cutters, and after hours of practice, took 10-85 against Warwickshire at Neath in the final match of the season.
From 1956 onwards he decided to concentrate on this slower style, and in his first season took 168 wickets for the Welsh county, including taking more than five wickets in an innings on fifteen occasions. In all, Don claimed 28 `ten-fors` during his long and illustrious career, and was a match-winner on a turning wicket, as testified by a series of remarkable returns, including 6-5 against Nottinghamshire at Newport in 1961, 5-2 against Leicestershire at Ebbw Vale in 1965 and 7-7 against Hampshire at the Arms Park in 1966, whilst he also took a hat-trick against Northamptonshire at Swansea in 1964.
There are so many instances of Don being the bane of visiting batsmen who were bamboozled by his subtle wiles on the dry, sandy surface at Swansea, with his finest hour with the ball at St. Helen’s coming against Yorkshire during June 1965, as Glamorgan recorded a 31-run victory inside two days. It was also a game which saw Don and his spin partner Jim Pressdee, each taking nine wickets in an innings – the only time in a first-class match where a pair of bowlers have achieved this feat. Their remarkable performance saw Jim claim nine wickets in the visitors first innings before Don opened the bowling and took nine in their second innings.
Four years before, the Swansea ground had also seen Don enter the record books as a batsman as to the delight of a packed St. Helen’s, Shep equalled the world record for the fastest fifty in first-class cricket, racing to his half-century in just fifteen minutes and all whilst sporting a black eye having top-edged a ball from Gloucestershire’s David Allen into his eye in the previous match at Pontypridd. With the help of a few aspirins, Don took his place in the team, despite having his eye still half-shut. Typically, he did not want to let the team down and to the delight of a packed crowd he raced to his fifty with six massive sixes.
As the consummate team man and senior professional, Don was never one to boast about his personal achievements either with bat or ball. “I just had a bit of luck and a good old swing with the bat that day,” he would modestly say when asked about events that August afternoon at Swansea in 1961. Whereas other players take great delight in bragging about their performances, Don would just unashamedly smile with the glint in his eye being the only additional sign about how he felt about his place in the game’s record books.
Two of Shep’s proudest days in Glamorgan’s ranks also came at Swansea where in 1964 he claimed nine wickets in the victory over the Australians, before four years later acting as the stand-in captain for his great friend Tony Lewis, as he led the county to their historic double over the men in baggy green caps, with the 79-run victory being a tribute to Don’s subtle tactics and shrewd bowling changes as he set the Australians a target of 360 on the final day.
1969 was great year for Wales with the investiture of the Prince of Wales and for the man dubbed in the press as “The Prince of Wiles”, Shep enjoyed a wonderful summer himself as Glamorgan won the County Championship, sealing victory by defeating Worcestershire at Sophia Gardens. It was very special game for Don as well as he claimed his 2,000th wicket in first-class cricket before dismissing Brian Brain, the Worcestershire tail-ender to clinch the Championship title.
In 1969/70 Don toured Ceylon and the Far East with the M.C.C., and in 1970 his outstanding efforts with Glamorgan were recognised by being chosen as one of Wisden`s Cricketers of the Year. He was never bitter about never playing in Test cricket, with his exclusion puzzling many of his contemporaries in whom he was held in the highest of esteem. “Had he been an Australian,” Richie Benaud is quoted as saying, “he would have played for his country many, many times.”
After retiring from professional cricket at the end of 1972, Don helped to run his family’s shop in Parkmill, besides acting as a commentator on both TV and radio, besides writing for local and national newspapers. His mellow tones and perceptive analysis alongside Edward Bevan, the BBC Wales cricket correspondent, brought a huge audience for “Sunday Spin” as a new generation of Glamorgan cricket fans were able to share Shep’s wisdom and wit during coverage of Glamorgan’s one-day matches.
During the late 1980s he also acted as Glamorgan’s bowling coach and in his typically unassuming way helped Steve Barwick who had also switched from seam to off-cutters, as well as acting as a mentor for aspiring spinners such as Robert Croft.
Don’s final appearance at a Glamorgan match came on August 3rd when he, together with colleagues from the Championship-winning team of 1969, were at Sophia Gardens to form the guard of honour ahead of Glamorgan’s Twenty20 match with Gloucestershire as the Welsh county celebrated 50 years of county cricket at the Cardiff ground.
“Shep was a true legend,” said Hugh Morris, Glamorgan Chief Executive on hearing the sad news of Don’s passing, “ and there will probably never be a bowler like him in the history of the county game. But Shep was more than just a wonderful bowler. He was a fine and loyal man who give his best for the Club at all times and formed an integral part of the great Glamorgan side of the 1960s which twice beat the Australians and lifted the county crown.”
“Always prepared to help and advise others, ‘Shep’ was a fine mentor for so many cricketers, not just in Glamorgan but all over the cricketing world and his sad passing will be felt by so many. We extend our deepest sympathies to Joan, his wife and the rest of his family.”
Glamorgan Chairman Barry O’Brien added “The Club has lost one of its greatest players and undoubtedly it’s finest-ever bowler. Shep was a man who stood for all that is good about Glamorgan County Cricket Club, and someone who always played the game in the right spirit. He was a proud and loyal Welshman and, like so many others who watched him over the years at the likes of St.Helen’s and the Arms Park, I am proud to have seen him bowl and shared in his outstanding success whilst wearing the daffodil sweater.”
Glamorgan will be paying tribute to Don Shepherd at tomorrow’s NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final at The SSE SWALEC, with all players wearing black arm bands for the match, the Glamorgan flag will be at half mast and both teams will join in a minute’s applause prior to the start of play.
Head Coach Robert Croft said, “Don Shepherd epitomised everything that a Glamorgan cricketer is about both on the field and off the field. He was a huge competitor and successful player on the field and what a person, an inspiration off it. It was very sad to lose Don, but as a Glamorgan man and supporter of Welsh cricket, we have been very lucky to have him.”