David Allen (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
David Arthur Allen is a former English
cricket
er, who played first-class cricket
for Gloucestershire
between 1953
and 1972
. He also played 39 Test match
es for England
.
and in 1960
was selected as the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year
. Allen toured all the then-current Test-playing nations. He was a decent bat, his Test average was higher than the all rounders Fred Titmus
and Ray Illingworth
- and in the 1963
Lord's Test against the West Indies
, he notably played out the final two balls of Wes Hall
's last over for a draw. Allen had protected Colin Cowdrey
at the other end, who was pressed into bat with his broken arm in plaster. In the 1965-66 Ashes series Allen made 50 not out in the Third Test at Sydney, adding 93 for the last wicket and took 4/47 as England won by an inninmgs and 93 runs.
Allen was also famous for being taken off against Australia. In the decisive Fourth Test at Old Trafford in 1961 he took three quick wickets to have Australia nine wickets down, but Allan Davidson
hit him for 20 runs in an over and Peter May
took him off. Davidson added 98 for the last wicket and Australia won by 54 runs. In the equally decisve Third Test at Headingley
Ted Dexter
removed him after he had taken three wickets to reduce Australia to 187/7, still 81 runs behind England. Dexter took the new ball and gave it to Fred Trueman
who bowled a series of bouncers which Peter Burge hooked and pulled to 160, hoisting Australia to 389 and a 7-wicket win. Nevertheless, in six winters, Allen completed the set of playing against all the other Test playing nations of the time. In India and Pakistan in 1961-62, he bowled 482 overs in the Test series alone.
A right-arm off-break bowler, using a very short run, Allen came close to developing into an all-rounder
on the level of Fred Titmus
. Playing fairly regularly for England throughout the first half of the 1960s, after 1966 he found it increasingly difficult to score enough runs or get enough bowling at county level as trends changed. Gloucestershire used three spin bowlers from the 1950s onwards but by the end of the 1960s Mike Bissex and Allen were effectively doing the work of one bowler. Though Bissex lost form, the advent of Sadiq Mohammed, a useful leg spinner, saw Allen fade away from the county side in 1972. Cricket commentator, Colin Bateman, noted that "towards the end of his 20 summers at Bristol his relationship with skipper Tony Brown
, with whom he had grown up on a cricket field, became strained. Allen even found himself left out of his own benefit match".
In later years, Allen was a member of the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
committee, and was elected club president in 2011.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, who played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
between 1953
1953 English cricket season
The 1953 English cricket season saw a tight Test series between England and Australia that was settled, after four drawn matches, in the final Test at The Oval, where England won to reclaim The Ashes for the first time since the Bodyline series of 1932/33....
and 1972
1972 English cricket season
The 1972 English cricket season saw an increase in limited overs cricket with the introduction of the Benson & Hedges Cup, which was part mini-league and part knockout along the lines of soccer's World Cup competition. This caused another reduction in County Championship matches and the B&H was...
. He also played 39 Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
es for England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
.
Life and career
Allen was first selected for England in 19591959 English cricket season
The 1959 English cricket season saw the inauguration of the Second XI Championship which was to end the involvement of first-class counties in the Minor Counties Championship, though it took several years before all county second XIs switched to the new competition...
and in 1960
1960 English cricket season
The 1960 English cricket season was marked by a throwing controversy which came to a head in the England v South Africa Test series. Umpire Syd Buller repeatedly called the South African fast bowler Geoff Griffin for throwing in the exhibition match staged following the early conclusion of the...
was selected as the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year
Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year
The Young Cricketer of the Year is an annual award voted by the Cricket Writers' Club for the best young cricket player in England and Wales, and has been awarded since 1950. Former recipients include Fred Trueman, Geoffrey Boycott, Ian Botham and David Gower....
. Allen toured all the then-current Test-playing nations. He was a decent bat, his Test average was higher than the all rounders Fred Titmus
Fred Titmus
Frederick John Titmus MBE was an English cricketer, whose first-class career spanned five decades. Although he was best known for his off spin , he was an accomplished lower-order batsman who deserved to be called an all-rounder, even opening the batting for England on six occasions...
and Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
- and in the 1963
1963 English cricket season
The 1963 English cricket season marked the beginning of limited overs cricket at List A level with the inauguration of the knockout competition that was originally called the Gillette Cup. It also included a memorable Test series against West Indies...
Lord's Test against the West Indies
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
, he notably played out the final two balls of Wes Hall
Wes Hall
Wesley Winfield Hall is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bowl long spells. Hall played 48 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1969...
's last over for a draw. Allen had protected Colin Cowdrey
Colin Cowdrey
Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, CBE , better known as Colin Cowdrey, was the Captain of Oxford University, Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team in a career that lasted from 1950 to 1976...
at the other end, who was pressed into bat with his broken arm in plaster. In the 1965-66 Ashes series Allen made 50 not out in the Third Test at Sydney, adding 93 for the last wicket and took 4/47 as England won by an inninmgs and 93 runs.
Allen was also famous for being taken off against Australia. In the decisive Fourth Test at Old Trafford in 1961 he took three quick wickets to have Australia nine wickets down, but Allan Davidson
Alan Davidson (cricketer)
Alan Keith Davidson, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer of the 1950s and 1960s. He was an all rounder: a hard-hitting lower-order left-handed batsman, and an outstanding left-arm fast-medium opening bowler...
hit him for 20 runs in an over and Peter May
Peter May
-External links:* * at Cricket Archive*...
took him off. Davidson added 98 for the last wicket and Australia won by 54 runs. In the equally decisve Third Test at Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
Ted Dexter
Ted Dexter
Edward Ralph Dexter CBE is a former English cricketer...
removed him after he had taken three wickets to reduce Australia to 187/7, still 81 runs behind England. Dexter took the new ball and gave it to Fred Trueman
Fred Trueman
Frederick Sewards Trueman OBE was an English cricketer, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. A bowler of genuinely fast pace who was widely known as Fiery Fred, Trueman played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1949 until he retired in 1968...
who bowled a series of bouncers which Peter Burge hooked and pulled to 160, hoisting Australia to 389 and a 7-wicket win. Nevertheless, in six winters, Allen completed the set of playing against all the other Test playing nations of the time. In India and Pakistan in 1961-62, he bowled 482 overs in the Test series alone.
A right-arm off-break bowler, using a very short run, Allen came close to developing into an all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
on the level of Fred Titmus
Fred Titmus
Frederick John Titmus MBE was an English cricketer, whose first-class career spanned five decades. Although he was best known for his off spin , he was an accomplished lower-order batsman who deserved to be called an all-rounder, even opening the batting for England on six occasions...
. Playing fairly regularly for England throughout the first half of the 1960s, after 1966 he found it increasingly difficult to score enough runs or get enough bowling at county level as trends changed. Gloucestershire used three spin bowlers from the 1950s onwards but by the end of the 1960s Mike Bissex and Allen were effectively doing the work of one bowler. Though Bissex lost form, the advent of Sadiq Mohammed, a useful leg spinner, saw Allen fade away from the county side in 1972. Cricket commentator, Colin Bateman, noted that "towards the end of his 20 summers at Bristol his relationship with skipper Tony Brown
Tony Brown (cricketer)
Anthony Stephen Brown, born at Bristol on June 24, 1936, is an English former cricketer and administrator.A middle to lower order right-handed batsman and a medium-fast right-arm bowler, Tony Brown was a successful county cricketer with Gloucestershire for 20 years and was county captain between...
, with whom he had grown up on a cricket field, became strained. Allen even found himself left out of his own benefit match".
In later years, Allen was a member of the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
committee, and was elected club president in 2011.