Sundries: Reverend David Sheppard and doubts in his potential flock

Reverend David Sheppard, popular with children and a decent enough fielder, was not considered competent enough to be trusted with baptism Getty Images

Reverend David Sheppard, the first ordained minister to play Test cricket, was a very good batsman. He also captained the England side. However, Arunabha Sengupta tells the story of a period of ineptitude in the field which created doubts in the minds of his potential flock.

Reverend David Sheppard, may God bless his good soul. He was ordained in 1955, but by then he had already played 8 Tests for England, toured Australia and led the country as well.

After 1955, and right up to 1963, he did play Test cricket intermittently. The 113 against Australia at Manchester was a crucial innings, before Jim Laker carried all before him with those 19 wickets. He played another important hand of 62 in the following Test, the final of the triumphant 1956 Ashes series at The Oval.

Down the years, however, his appearances for England were intermittent. After all, he was the first ordained minister to play Test cricket, and living at Canning Town, working at the Mayflower Family Centre, restricted his opportunities of playing the game.

But he did go on another tour of Australia, as the opening batsman of Ted Dexter s 1962-63 side, and even scored a match-winning 113 at Melbourne in the second Test. In all he managed 330 runs on the tour with a century and a couple of fifties, and did not have a bad time with the bat. However, he dropped more than his fair share of catches.

During the series, a young Australian couple from Melbourne was blessed with a son. The happy couple added to the bliss of new parenthood by partaking in the delights of the cricketing fare that season.

It was then that an idea stuck the cricket-mad youthful father. Honey, he suggested. I have a great idea. Why don t we get David Sheppard to baptise our son? He is a Reverend, you know? Won t that be a real treat?

And he was surprised to see his wife turn distinctly pale and clutch the baby protectively.

Good heavens! she exclaimed. He s sure to drop the baby.

There have been cricketing parsons and priests known for their expertise at long stop. When the position was made redundant by the increasing quality of the wicketkeepers, it was lamented that the specialist fielding position of the cricketing parson s were no more.

David Sheppard named his autobiography Parson s Pitch but he was by no means a cricketer of the quality of his ecclesiastical brethren. He was a genuine Test-class performer, a very good batsman and a decent enough fielder on a good day.

However, the curse of the cricketing clergymen seemed to follow him to Australia and he lost at least one of his potential flock because of his ineptitude in the field.

At Adelaide he did catch Garth McKenzie off Fred Titmus, but that did not ring through as the return of the prodigal for the said couple. They ultimately went to one of the local pastors for the ceremony.