Barry Kenneth Shepherd (23 April 1937 – 18 September 2001) was an Australian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played in nine

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

between 1963 and 1965.

Career

Barry Shepherd was an outstanding junior sportsman in

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

, hockey and cricket. Twice representing Western Australia in schoolboy football, he won the medal for best player at the carnival on the first year of his selection (in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

). He was runner-up for the same medal the following year (in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

). The

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

showed significant interest in recruiting him. He also represented Western Australia in hockey, winning all Australian selection as a full back. Cricket was the sport which he decided to pursue and he made his debut for Western Australia at age 17. He later captained the State with distinction. Known as a fierce competitor, he instilled in Western Australian cricket the will and self belief which made subsequent on field success possible. He made his Test debut in the

1962–63 Ashes series Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita ...

, replacing Peter Burge in the batting line up. He made a vital 71 not out in the first innings when the England off-spinner

Fred Titmus Frederick John Titmus (24 November 1932 – 23 March 2011) was an English cricketer, whose first-class career, mostly for Middlesex with a shortish stint for Surrey, spanned five decades. He was the fourth man after W.G. Grace, Wilfred Rhod ...

was running through the Australian batting order, taking 7/79. Ironically, the England team had tried to play Shepherd into the team and thought they had failed by getting him out cheaply in tour matches. He made only 23 more runs in the series and was replaced by Burge in the Fifth Test, but his 94 runs (47.00) put him third in the Australian batting averages. Shepherd retired from cricket at the age of 28, at the conclusion of the 1965–66 season, to pursue a career in commerce. He later became a cricket administrator, being elected to the executive committee of the

Western Australian Cricket Association The Western Australian Cricket Association (known as the WACA) is the governing body for cricket in Western Australia. The WACA was formed on 5 November 1885. In 1893 the association opened the WACA Ground. Elite cricket The WACA is responsible ...

(WACA) in 1979, and was awarded life membership of the association in 1985. In 1988, Shepherd was appointed a director of the

Australian Cricket Board Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...

, a position in which he served until 2000, when he retired. Shepherd was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 1999 for his services to cricket. He died in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

on 18 September 2001, at the age of 64.Barry Shepherd OAM
– Cricinfo. Published 19 September 2001. Retrieved 26 March 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Barry 1937 births 2001 deaths Australian cricketers Australian male field hockey players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Australia Test cricketers Field hockey people from Western Australia International Cavaliers cricketers People from Donnybrook, Western Australia Western Australia cricketers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Cricketers from Western Australia