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
History of cricket in South Africa from 1945–46 to 1970 History of cricket in South Africa from 1945–46 to 1970 This article describes the history of South African cricket from the end of the Second World War in 1945 to the start of South Africa's cricket isolation in 1970. International feeling against South Africa's apartheid policy became stronger and more vociferous as the post-war era developed. Until the mid-1960s, however, the South Africa national cricket team continued to play regularly and without undue difficulty against Australia, England and New Zealand. But matters came to a head in 1968 when the South African government refused to allow a tour by England