David Sheppard his clerical career and declined to tour unless required as a captain. In 1956 he was recalled to play Australia and made 113 in the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, where Jim Laker famously took 19 wickets and England won by an innings. He refused to play against the touring South Africans in 1960, and was a vocal opponent of the proposed MCC tour in 1968–69 which was ultimately cancelled after the South African government refused to allow Basil D'Oliveira to play. Sheppard was willing to take a sabbatical from his church mission in the East End in order to
Cricket in South Africa Cricket in South Africa Cricket is the second most popular sport in South Africa, and is popular among English-speaking as well as Afrikaans-speaking whites, and the Asian/Indian community. South Africa is one of the world's leading cricket-playing nations, and is one of 12 countries sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to play Test Cricket. It also hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup and the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007. Cricket in South Africa was established by the British, and the first tour by a side from England took place in 1888–89. Here South Africa played its first Test match