With his ruddy cheeks and ample girth David Shepherd was a familiar figure on cricket grounds from Lord’s to the Caribbean and Australia, where his calm deliberations and un-obtrusive control of the game made him one of the best and most respected umpires of his time.

Unlike his one-time colleague, Harold “Dickie” Bird, Shepherd was not a flamboyant figure. On the contrary he was a shy, softly spoken man who liked to do his job with the minimum of fuss. For him a good day’s umpiring was when he got things right and was barely noticed.

He was a character all the same, with an eccentricity that cricket crowds came to anticipate and relish. Perhaps because he came from Devon, a county rich in myths and legends, he was deeply superstitious, not least about the number 111 and its multiples, which he was convinced were unlucky.

So when the score reached the dreaded 111, known as the “Nelson”, he would break into a little dance as he tried to exorcise the demon by hopping on one foot. The nickname Nelson is thought to refer to the hero of Trafalgar having only one eye, one arm and one aim: to defeat the enemy. Shepherd’s fears extended beyond cricket. He would never stay in room 111 in an hotel, and he once drove his car round the block so that his journey would not end at 111 miles.

Times Archive, 1975: Rare gifts of an acting captain

"Good old Shep!" Who cares what his average is? Doesn't he cheer us up

• Shepherd century brings triumph in last over, 1969

Related Links

• Warne leads tributes to 'great man' Shepherd

• Shepherd takes his seat after standing down

• Shepherd turns down offer of last stand

Multimedia

• PATRICK KIDD: Why don't we love umpires anymore?

“Shep”, as he was universally known in the cricketing world, was popular with players, who appreciated his fairness and sense of humour. He handled cricketers well and could defuse tensions because, like most English umpires, he had played the game at first-class level and knew all about frustrations that could boil over.

During his long spell as an umpire, from 1981 to 2005, the job became steadily harder. Shepherd was dismayed at the decline in standards of behaviour on the field, with players appealing for everything, showing dissent and, as he saw it, simply cheating. The days when a batsman who knew he was out “walked” were long gone.

At the same time technology, replaying incidents in slow motion and from different angles, was increasingly second-guessing umpires who had only a split second to make decisions. For a traditionalist such as Shepherd, devices for detecting snicks and analysing lbws were to be tolerated rather than welcomed, though mostly they only confirmed how good he was.

Inevitably, however, he made mistakes and these were mercilessly exposed by television. During the final innings of the Old Trafford Test against Pakistan in 2001 four England wickets fell to no-balls that the umpires had failed to spot. Three were at Shepherd’s end, picked up by the television camera and pictured in the following day’s newspapers.

He was mortified when he realised what had happened and came close to resigning. But he carried on for another four years and by the time he retired on the approach of his 65th birthday he had stood in 172 one-day internationals, more than anyone else, and 92 Tests.

He officiated at five World Cups, including three finals. He was rewarded with appointment as MBE in 1997 and with life membership of MCC in 2006.

Although his job took him all over the world, particularly after it was decided that all Tests should have neutral umpires, Shepherd was always happy to leave the noisy crowds and tense battles on the field and return to the tranquillity of his home village of Instow, in North Devon. Here he would get up early to help his brother, who ran the post office, by delivering newspapers.

David Robert Shepherd was born in Bideford in 1940 and remained a proud Devonian all his life. He reckoned that his brother, Bill, who took over the post office from their mother, was the better cricketer. But David was in the Barnstaple Grammar School first eleven at 12 and played in an English schools under-19 side at Lord’s. Bill, who was briefly an MCC young professional, was on the opposing team.