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

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

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 * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

, 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 Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

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

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

). The

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

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, making 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, 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 short stint for Surrey, spanned five decades. He was the fourth man after W.G. Grace, Wilfred Rhode ...

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 WA Cricket (formerly known as the Western Australian Cricket Association or 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 WA ...

(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) 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 Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

, 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 Australian 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 then ...

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 (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

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 Australian cricket administrators Sportsmen from Western Australia 20th-century Australian sportsmen