David Shepherd is the world's most senior and respected cricketing umpire. For more than 20 years he has umpired tests, county games and one-day matches everywhere from Trinidad to Glamorgan. He has given Geoff Boycott out, resisted appeals from Curtley Ambrose, dodged straight drives from Sachin Tendulkar, calmed down Shane Warne and signalled leg-byes in his own uniquely elegant and justly famous style. His experience of umpiring spans three decades; the list of players he has umpired, known and counts as friends reads like a cricketing WHO'S WHO. And he is held in rare esteem and affection by virtually everyone involved in cricket. Beginning with an evocative account of Shepherd's North Devon childhood, the book then covers his entire career from playing for Devon to becoming an umpire. Containing a wealth of informed opinions on all aspects of cricket, past, present and future, it is also full of anecdotes from a man who has stayed at the centre of the game for nearly forty years, never losing his love of the game or his sense of humour.
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When Pakistan levelled the 2001 two-match series with England by winning the Old Trafford Test, serious mistakes by the umpires Ed Nichols and David Shepherd, were shown to have decided the result. And as Shepherd recounts in his autobiography Shep, the controversy almost drove him out of cricket. TV replays proved that four crucial England wickets fell to no-balls, and Shep was responsible for missing three of them. One of the most popular and recognisable of the elite band of international cricket umpires was publicly castigated for repeatedly making basic mistakes.
I'd like to block out the memory of that final day forever. I was as attentive and conscientious, at least at the "business" end, as I have ever been. So how did I slip up so badly and so publicly?
It's a question he cannot fully answer, and the truth is that the cameras are now making a compelling case for seriously limiting the power of on-field umpires altogether. It's an appropriate time then to reflect on life as an endangered species. Shep is essentially a sentimental journey back through his Devon childhood, schooldays and his life as a county cricketer, which brought him naturally to officiating when that career ended. There is a nostalgic turn to much of this chronicle, not least, one suspects, because after 20 years of umpiring--having battled to reach the top--the media and technology surrounding the modern game are undermining his achievement.
Some of these tales from the middle belie his public image as the "dancing umpire", the jovial man from the West Country. Shepherd is a sharp-eyed, opinionated observer of the game, and gives his verdict on leading figures--both players and umpires, including the likes of Ian Botham, Darren Gough and Dickie Bird--and what he claims is the encroachment of "evil and greed" within his beloved sport. But Shepherd's tale is sprinkled with genuine humour, and the man who emerges is quirky in the great tradition of cricketing characters. --Alex Hankin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By ginamat
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Excellent book, very interesting for all cricket fans. Its the sort of book you jut can't put down. Highly recommended read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Jna Boogaard
Format:Paperback
A charming tale of cricket in England at its best, played by gentlemen in the true spirit of the game, followed by an interesting insight into the life of an international umpire.
Shep was a legend.
Shep was a legend.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
David Shepherd - "Shep" - is an amiable fellow and this book oozes with that amiability. That is its charm and its downfall: the book lacks bite.
It is reflective of the cricket palying career of the man; Shep descibes the ambling bonhomie of the county cricket circuit in the late 1960s and 1970s well enough but his playing career rarely scaled the heights. The few times that it did are poorly conveyed; the legendary Gillette cup semi-final between Gloucestershire and Lancashire at Old Trafford is worthy of a substantial chapter in its own right but is dismissed prosaically in a few pages.
The problem lies in Shep's mediocrity as a player: given that there are relatively few on-field exploits to relish, the book needed to be much more about the struggle of a fringe player and though there are glimpses of angst, that amiability always wins through: Shep manages to survive and seems content merely to do so.
More intresting are Shep's umpiring tales; there is no doubt that Shep is a world class umpire and has officiated over some of the great players of this era and in some fascinating and controversial games. Sadly the book also fails to do these credit; Shep lacks Dickie Bird's talent for anecdote and idiosincracy - apart from the famous "hop" accompanying scores of nelson and its multiples.
The most evocative parts of the book concern Shep's beloved Instow in North Devon, where he still lives and where he escapes the pressures of international umpiring.
In all, a disappointing book that lacks form and discipline: Spanton's editing does not do Shep credit.
Shep nonetheless comes out of it all as a thoroughly likeable fellow whose integrity stands like a beacon in these troubled times for international cricket.
If you are seeking an untaxing and charming read, this book is definitely for you.
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