David Sheppard passes away

David Sheppard, the former England Test captain, has passed away, aged 75, following a long battle with cancer. He would have turned a year older on March 6. Sheppard was also the former Bishop of Liverpool.

Sheppard played 22 Tests - and led England in two - in a career that spanned 13 seasons. He averaged 37 and racked up three hundreds and six fifties in that time, and was named one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. One of his hundreds came against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956, the match in which Jim Laker took 19 wickets.

Remembered by cricket fans for his graceful play and immense concentration, he was nonetheless also remembered for his fielding. Six years after he returned to the side in 1956 as the first ordained minister to play for England, he toured Australia and dropped catches, provoking a legendary jibe from Fred Trueman: "It's a pity t'Reverend don't put his hands together more often in t'field."