[1] Shackel was born at Christchurch in 1970 and educated at King's High School in Dunedin.
[2] A wicket-keeper, he played age-group cricket for Otago between 1986–87 and 1989–90 and for the Second XI in 1992–93 and 1993–94.
His only senior representative appearance was a single List A match against Wellington in January 1994.
Batting last in Otago's order, he faced one ball from which he did not score and took a single catch in the match.
[2][7] in 2020, he began working as the medical manager for New Zealand Cricket.