Umpire Shepherd dead at 68

Former Test match umpire and Gloucestershire cricketer David Shepherd has died from cancer at the age of 68, the Englishman's former county announced Wednesday.

Shepherd, widely regarded as one of the best umpires of his generation, stood in 92 Tests and 172 one-day internationals, including three World Cup finals, between 1983-2005.

He was perhaps best known to cricket fans around the world for his superstitious habit of standing on one leg when the score reached 'Nelson', England's supposedly 'unlucky' number of 111 or multiples such as 222.

"I feel very saddened this has happened," Dickie Bird, who umpired many matches alongside his fellow Englishman, told Sky Sports. LONDON, AFP