A DINNER was held in Birmingham to celebrate the life of a great friend and former vice-president of Tavistock Cricket Club, David Shepherd — who was undoubtedly one of the best international umpires to grace the Test arena.

The event was ably organised by Roger Newman director of cricket for Devon CCC.

The David Shepherd Cricket Foundation was set up in the cricketer's memory to help the coaching and development of you cricketers in Devon from the ages of 17 to 21.

Shep, as he was affectionatly known, played for 14 years for Gloucestershire before going on to umpire 92 international tests.

The main guest was Andy Flower, England's Director of Cricket and also the patron of The David Shepherd Cricket Foundation.

Almost £5,000 was raised on the evening for the charity. Andy spoke at length of his early life in Rhodesia and how his family had to flee the country following the rise of the Mugabe regime. He was also ranked number one batsman in the world when playing for Zimbabwe in the 1990s.

Other celebrities included former Warwickshire player and Foundation coach Kabir Ali, former England opening batsman Alan Oakman and ex soccer stars Johnny Giles and Cyrille Regis.

The Foundation was built on the principles held dear by Shep of loyalty, fairness and equality and promotes sportsmanship and fairplay within the spirit of cricket — and to inspire disadvantaged young people to improve their lives through cricket as part of the Devon CCC community programme.

Also attending were the trustees of the David Shepherd Cricket Foundation – Paul Bowser of North Devon Cricket Club, Jamie Horner of Ashfords Solicitors, Roger Newman former Warwickshire county coach, Geoff Evans and two of Shep's dear friends former Gloucestershire bowler Jack Davey and Tavistock president Stuart Munday.