over Germany certain, but because I had decided exactly how to go about scoring it long before the chance presented itself. Anticipation and fulfilment." Style of play Journalist Malcolm Hartley, wrote of Shackleton: "Apart from the adhesive ball control and breathtaking body swerve, Shack could hit a ball. His slender legs could crack the ball like a Bofors gun." One of his contemporaries remarked: "Once in possession, and few can match his dexterity at bringing the ball under control, the ball becomes his slave. All the skills of inside forward play – dribbling, feinting, correct positioning and accurate passing are his to command." A showman who liked to entertain the crowd, he was able to cut the ball with sufficient spin that it would roll towards an opponent only to stop and then return to him as though on a string. He was also adept at back heeling penalty kicks into the goal. He would rarely track back and defend however, and antics were sometimes criticised as "unsportsman-like". On one occasion, 2–1 up against Arsenal with 5 minutes to go, he dribbled the ball into The Gunners' penalty area before putting his foot on it, pretending to comb his hair while looking at his watch. Other examples include mocking opposition full-backs by playing one-twos with the corner flag, literally sitting on the ball to torment defenders who couldn't dispossess him, and teasing a beaten goalkeeper by putting his foot on the ball on the goal line. Sunderland teammate Trevor Ford wrote in his autobiography that: "where did it [Shackleton's antics] get us? Precisely nowhere. The result was that when he did make a move, the opposing defence was in position and the attack broke down. Time and again when I thought Shack was going to slip a goalscoring pass to me he would veer off". However Billy Bingham defended Shackleton by noting that Ford had poor positional skills. Cricket career While playing for Sunderland, Shackleton played cricket for Wearmouth Colliery and for Northumberland in the 1948 Minor Counties Championship. His genius and humour was also evident on the cricket field. At Wearmouth, he would entertain the crowd by pretending to miss slip catches, then looking behind him as if the ball had gone to the boundary, before producing the ball from his pocket. While at Sunderland he played for Wearmouth Colliery in the Durham Senior League. He also played cricket