Career
He also played a further 88 first class games, 49 of them for the Combined Islands, whom he represented from its inception in 1961 until the dissolution of the team in 1981. He also played first class cricket for the Windward Islands. His Test career began when he was selected for three Tests of the five-match 1976-1977 home Test series against Pakistan, replacing Maurice Foster who had made 19 runs from number six in the first Test.
Shillingford had made the most runs in the Shell Shield the previous season, with 257, and though he was aged nearly 33 he was given the chance.
Shillingford was retained for the third Test, and held a catch to dismiss Khan in the first innings, as Pakistan made 194. After the West Indies lost Fredericks early on, Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards and Alvin Kallicharran took West Indies to 193 for 3 when Shillingford came in to bat, and batted for 315 minutes, hitting fifteen fours and one six in a career best 120.
Despite Shillingford"s century and a lead of 254, the West Indian bowlers could not back up the batsmen, and Pakistan made 540 in the second innings to secure the draw. Shillingford was thus dropped for the final Test at Sabina Park, with Barbados all-rounder Collis King replacing him.
Shillingford was also selected for one Test match against Australia in 1977-1978, when the West Indies made nine changes from the previous Test due to players" involvement with World Series Cricket.
He made three and 16 in a three-wicket loss, and though the team remained much the same for the fourth Test, Shillingford was replaced by Guyana batsman Faoud Bacchus. Shillingford continued to play domestic cricket until 1981-1982, enjoying a Shell Shield victory with his Combined Islands team in 1980-1981, and also playing four matches for the Windward Islands the following season. However, his final season was not his greatest – with 112 first class runs at a batting average of 18.66, he failed to pass fifty a single time, though his team finished second in the Shell Shield table.
