Don Shepherd

Who is Don Shepherd?

Don Shepherd was a Welsh cricketer, who played for Glamorgan. One of the great county bowlers, he took more first-class wickets, 2,218 at 21.32 each, 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, however, 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 forties, and was an integral part of the Glamorgan side that won the County Championship in 1969.