'Shep' now ready to sign off

David Shepherd will retire after Tuesday's NatWest Challenge match between England and Australia © Getty Images

David Shepherd will vacate the “grandstand seat” he has occupied for the past 20 years when he umpires in his last international match on Tuesday.

England’s NatWest Challenge final will be notable as the final sighting of the cheery Shepherd on duty at the highest level.

The 64-year-old former Gloucestershire batsman - who will umpire in first-class cricket until the end of this summer - has been a member of the International Cricket Council’s elite panel since its inception three years ago.

He was a regular on the list for eight years before then and expects to miss cricket “tremendously”.

Since he was first appointed to the Test panel in 1985, he regards it as a privilege to have been able to see at close quarters the cream of modern-day cricketing talent.

Shepherd will be sorely missed © Getty Images

And his standing as one of the game’s best umpires has been recognised by the ICC in choosing him to officiate in each of the last three World Cup finals.

Shepherd is known throughout cricket as ‘Shep’ and near synonymous these days with the ritual of standing on one leg whenever a team or batsman reaches the bogey score of 111 - otherwise known as ‘Nelson’.

He ended a 92-Test career in the Caribbean last month and will be drawing stumps for the last time at The Brit Oval in his 172nd one-day international.

There will be no regrets as he retreats to retirement in north Devon.

But he acknowledges it will be a wrench to end his professional involvement with a sport which has been a lifelong love.

“Cricket has been all my life,” he said.

Shepherd is famous for standing on one leg - called the Nelson © Getty Images

“Ever since I was a nipper I wanted to play for a living - and I have been fortunate enough to be involved in cricket all of my working life.

“You can’t call it work really - I have been so very lucky - and to walk away from it now is going to be very difficult. I shall miss it tremendously.”

He added: “I was lucky enough to play for Gloucester(shire) for 15 years. But when I finished in 1979, I thought: ‘What am I going to do now?’

“Then someone suggested: ‘Why not be an umpire? - It will give you the best seat in the house.’

“Since then I have been spoiled for the last 25 years. I have seen the best players in the world, the cream of the talent - and I have had a grandstand seat to watch it.”

Shepherd has had the honour of umpiring some of the world's best players

The ICC offered to waive regulations on independent umpires and allow Shepherd to sign off by standing in next week’s first Ashes Test at Lord’s.

“It was a great honour to be asked, and I was very flattered,” he said.

“But there is enough hype going on between England and Australia, and it is the players who are the stars of the game.

“Cricket is about cricketers - not umpires - so I thought I would take a back seat.”