Gloucestershire chairman calls for appropriate tribute to David Shepherd

Gloucestershire chairman John Light has called for an appropriate tribute to recognise the "worldwide standing" of former Test umpire David Shepherd, who died yesterday after a long battle with cancer.

Shepherd, who was a batsman for the county for 14 years but came to prominence as a leading umpire, died aged 68 in the early hours of yesterday morning.

He stood in 92 Tests around the world and umpired three successive World Cup finals and was perhaps most famous for his one-legged jigs when the score reached 111, 222 or 333, known as a 'Nelson'. He retired in 2005 but was struck by cancer soon after.

Gloucestershire CCC chairman Light believes fitting tributes will be made to the universally-popular Shepherd.

He said: "We are redeveloping our ground at Bristol and it may be that we consider naming part of it after him, but it's early days for that. But certainly at Gloucestershire there will be an appropriate tribute because of the general respect we have for him.

"I think the world of cricket will pay an appropriate tribute. I don't want to put words into the mouth of the MCC or ECB, but I'm sure his contribution to the game was such that we'll get a world tribute, I think that would be appropriate.

"It's not just his standing in Bristol, it's his worldwide standing because he was popular wherever he went umpiring. He could communicate with the crowd, like the way he signalled a four with his little wave. I happened to notice when watching the final of the Champions League Twenty20 competition in India that some of the Indian supporters were celebrating fours exactly like he used to signal them, with the wave. It goes to show the international respect and appeal."

International Cricket Council president David Morgan said: "David was a true gentleman of the game. He was a fine player and a match official of the very highest quality. He will be remembered fondly by players, spectators and administrators who saw him as a great entertainer but also as one of the best umpires the game has ever seen."

A tearful Dickie Bird, who regularly stood opposite Shepherd in Tests and one-day internationals, said: "I'm very sad and shocked it's happened. He was a fine umpire. We umpired together all over the world. He was a character, a great man, and a tremendous bloke. I've lost a friend – a great friend."

Former England captain Michael Vaughan added: "He had a huge amount of respect, he was a really good umpire. He used to always say 'well played' or 'good shot'. You do get a lot of umpires these days who probably don't feel they're allowed to say that."