DAVID SHEPPARD

:''This article is about the cricketer and Bishop of Liverpool 'David Sheppard'. You might be looking for the cricket umpire David Shepherd, or the radio presenter David Sheppard.''
'David Stuart Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Liverpool' (6 March 1929 – 5 March 2005) was a high-profile bishop of the Church of England and, previously, an English cricketer.
Sheppard was born in Charlwood, Surrey and educated at Sherborne School, Dorset where his cricketing talent first emerged. He then went up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge and played for Cambridge University (blue 1950, 1951 and 1952; captain 1952), Sussex (captain 1953) and England. In 1952 he topped the English batting averages, scoring 2,262 runs at an average of 64.62. This included 1,281 runs and 7 centuries for Cambridge University, a Cambridge record. His career total for Cambridge University, 3,545, was also a record. He hit 1,000 runs in a season six times, reaching 2,000 three times (highest 2,270, average 45.40, in 1953). He hit three double centuries, one for Sussex and two for Cambridge University (highest 239 not out for Cambridge University v Worcestershire at Worcester in 1952). He played in 22 Test matches. He was not selected in 1953 when England played Australia and recovered the Ashes, but he was selected in 1954, and captained the team on two occasions against the touring Pakistanis, when he stood in for Len Hutton. One game was won, the other drawn, but the four-Test series ended tied at 1-1. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1953.
Sheppard was converted to evangelical Christianity whilst at Cambridge and trained for the ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He was ordained in 1955 and continued to play Test cricket until 1963, being the first ordained minister to do so. He became Bishop of Woolwich in 1969, and Bishop of Liverpool in 1975. He was an active broadcaster and campaigner, especially on the subject of poverty and social reform in the inner cities.
He worked closely with the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, Derek Worlock, on these issues, and was often an outspoken critic of Margaret Thatcher's government. In 1985 he was appointed as a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission on Urban Priority Areas, culminating in the publishing of the controversial report "Faith in the City". He retired in 1997, and was elevated to a life peerage as 'Baron Sheppard of Liverpool', of West Kirby in the County of Merseyside. He sat in the House of Lords on the Labour benches.
In 2001 Sheppard was named President of 'Sussex County Cricket Club'. He had a long and happy marriage to his wife Grace. Their daughter, Jenny, converted to Roman Catholicism but the family did not become estranged.
In December 2003 he announced that he had been suffering from cancer for the previous two years, and he died just over a year later, on the day before what would have been his 76th birthday.
Lord Sheppard published his autobiography, ''Steps Along Hope Street'', in 2002.

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External references

External references

★ ''Cricinfo'' page for David Sheppard

★ Biography from ''The Wisden Cricketer''

★ ''BBC News'' obituary

★ Obituary from ''The Guardian'' newspaper