24 Facts about David Shepherd - The Umpiring Demigod

David Shepherd made umpiring a delight to watch. The chubby and extremely lovable personality he was known for his accurate decision making apart from his on-field antics and superstitions. Renowned for his sensitive handling of players and ability to handling on-field flashpoints with his gentle and jovial approach. He was the umpire everyone loved to watch. The ‘laws of the game’ always came first for him and he never compromised with it. Here are some of the interesting facts about David Shepherd:

1. Born on:

David Robert Shepherd was born on 27 December 1940 in Bideford, Devon, England.

2. Early life and family:

Shepherd’s father Herbert was a sub-postmaster who had earlier worked in the Merchant Navy. His father played cricket and rugby in his youth and was also an umpire for North Devon Cricket Club after losing the sight in one eye in the First World War. His brother Bill was also a cricketer who captained MCC Young Professionals.

3. Education:

David Shepherd was educated at Barnstaple Grammar School. He then studied at St Luke’s College, Exeter.

4. Junior cricket days:

As a junior cricketer, Shepherd played for his school, Barnstaple’s first XI and then for the Devon Colts and England Schools 1959 to 1964. He was never thin and was always chubby. His team mated said that Shepherd was not the one for workouts. He mostly played in the middle order and was a hard hitter of the ball.

5. County cricket:

He had a reasonably successful, though late-starting, first-class playing career for Gloucestershire, stretching from 1965 to 1979. However, he never came close to international selection for England.

6. County career:

Shepherd played 282 matches for Gloucestershire over 14 years. He scored 10,672 runs at 24.47, scored 12 hundreds, and held 97 catches.

7. Stunning debut:

David Shepherd made a stunning County debut, scoring 108 against Oxford University in April 1965. In all, he made eleven hundreds in his playing career till 1979.

8. Alternate profession:

He chose to pursue teaching as an alternate career in Bideford and Ilfracombe after playing cricket.

9. Hits a man reading newspaper:

One famous incident involving Shepherd’s happened when he was playing at the Gloucestershire Cricket Club. He hit a ball so hard into the crowd that it knocked out a spectator who was reading a newspaper. The spectator was taken to the hospital and recovered with minor injuries.

10. Life after his playing career:

After retiring from his playing career in 1979, Shepherd decided against becoming a coach but later decided to become an umpire instead. He took to umpiring because a friend told him that the profession would offer him “the best seat in the house.”

11. Reputation of a world-class umpire:

He was appointed as a first-class umpire in 1981 for the first time. Shepherd was quickly recognized as one of the ablest and fair-minded officials in the game. Within two years, he was part of the umpiring panel for the 1983 World Cup.

12. Debut as an umpire:

Just after four years of officiating as an umpire at first-class level, Shepherd stood for his first Test. It was the fourth Test of the 1985 Ashes series at Old Trafford.

13. The famous ‘Nelson Dance’:

David Shepherd was a very jolly character and was famous for his superstitions. His most famous habit was lifting one foot off the ground whenever the score reached 111, or multiples thereof. He did this because ‘111’ was regarded as unlucky. He followed this ritual since his childhood cricket team days. It was known as the ‘Nelson dance’ as the number 111 is known as the “Nelson” and is considered unlucky for the batsman.

40 Superstitions followed by Cricketers

14. Other superstitions:

Among other superstitions, he would tie a matchstick to a finger on Friday 13th, so he would be touching wood to bring good luck all day. Shepherd took staff at an Indian hotel by surprise when he politely refused to stay in his designated room, No 111.

15. Fan favorite:

David Shepherd was famous for his tendency to shake his hand while signaling fours. Even today, many fans in cricket crowds mimic his action while celebrating fours.

16. Severe self-critic:

Shepherd was a harsh self-critic, poor decision were rare when he was in the middle. However, once he considered retiring after he received much adverse press coverage in 2001 after Pakistan won against England at Old Trafford Test. Shepherd gave three England batsmen out to no-balls bowled by Saqlain Mushtaq, who had stepped over the crease.

17. Dismisses special honor:

David Shepherd was given special privilege by the ICC to umpire in an Ashes match between England and Australia at the Lord’s as his final Test. But, he turned down the opportunity in order to maintain the ICC’s neutral umpiring policy for Test matches

18. Accolades:

Shepherd was awarded the ‘Member of the Order of the British Empire’ (MBE) for services to cricket in 1987.

19. Special record:

Shepherd was the first umpire to officiate in at least one Test match in all the Test-playing nations.

20. Life after retirement:

After retirement, he returned to Devon and lived in the seaside village of Instow. He was also named President of North Devon Cricket Club 2006.

21. Down to earth personality:

Despite all his achievements and fame, David Shepherd was a down to earth personality. He would occasionally work at his brother Bill’s post office and often delivered newspapers. His partner Jenny told The Telegraph: “Some of our neighbours thought it was funny to see him on the telly one day and then on their doorstep at 6.30 AM the next.”

22. Personal life:

He married Jenny, his partner since 1973 in 2008 following a 36-year relationship.

23. Death:

David Shepherd died of lung cancer on 27 October 2009, exactly two months before his 69th birthday, in Devon. He left £248,083 in his will. In that obituary, the obituarist himself wrote: “The authorities struggle for a definition of the Spirit of Cricket. Perhaps the best answer is David Shepherd.”

24. Overall career as an Umpire:

Shepherd stood in 92 Test matches, the last of them in June 2005, the most for any English umpire. He also umpired 172 ODIs, including three consecutive World Cup finals in 1996, 1999 and 2003.