Allen Gubby Image 3 Middlesex 1936

Description

Bellevue Hill, New South Wales, Australia born right handed batsman and right-arm fast bowler Sir George Oswald Browning “Gubby” Allen CBE captained England in eleven Test matches and first made an impression playing for Eton against Harrow at Lord’s in 1921. In his second innings, he scored 69 runs, the highest individual score of the game, and Eton won the match. In first-class matches, he played for Middlesex and Cambridge University. Towards the end of the 1921 season, Allen was invited to play first-class cricket as an amateur for Middlesex, for whom he qualified by residence. Allen believed that Pelham Warner, who often supported young Middlesex cricketers, encouraged his selection by the club, despite the potential risks to the team’s position in the County Championship from playing an inexperienced cricketer. Allen made his first-class debut against Somerset on 21st August 1921 and made one other appearance that season without achieving much in either match. With Cambridge Allen was awarded his blue by being selected for the University Match for Cambridge against Oxford at Lord’s in 1922.

A fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, he improved as a batsman in the following seasons until work commitments forced him to play less regularly. A change of career allowed him to play more cricket, and by the late 1920’s he was on the verge of the England Test team. He made his Test Match debut against Australia at Lord’s in June 1930, and remained in contention for a place, when he was available to play, for the rest of the decade. During the controversial Bodyline tour of 1932-33, Allen was very successful for England but refused to use the intimidatory tactics employed by his teammates.

From 1933, Allen worked in the London Stock Exchange, which limited the amount of cricket he could play. Even so, he was appointed England captain in 1936 and led the team during the 1936-37 tour of Australia, when the home team won 3-2 having lost the first two matches. He continued to play irregularly for Middlesex until 1939; after the Second World War, during which he worked in military intelligence, he played occasionally for Middlesex and other teams into the 1950’s. He captained England in a final Test series in the West Indies in at Kingston in March 1948. As a cricketer, Allen was affected by his lack of regular play and was at his most effective during his two tours of Australia when he was able to build up his form. At other times, his bowling was often erratic but occasionally devastating. An orthodox batsman, he often scored runs when his team were under pressure.

In 25 Test matches for England he scored 750 runs at an average of 24.19 with a highest score of 122 against New Zealand at Lord’s, coming in at No. 9 at Lords in June 1931. He also scored 3 half centuries. As a bowler he took 81 wickets at 29.37 apiece taking 10 wickets in a match against India at Lord’s in June 1936 with a Test best of 7-80 in the same series at The Oval that August.

In his first class career he scored 11 centuries and 47 half centuries with a high score of 180, scoring 9,233 runs at 28.67. As a bowler he took 10 wickets in a match 9 times and had 48 five wicket hauls, taking 788 career wickets at 22.23. He also caught 20 Test match catches among 131 career catches.

He also played twice for the Free Foresters, a club of wandering amateurs, in first-class matches. As Allen’s first-class career came to a close in 1950, he moved into administration and held considerable influence in English and world cricket. He was instrumental in the creation of a MCC coaching manual, and worked hard to eliminate illegal bowling actions. As chairman of selectors from 1955 to 1961, he presided over a period of great success for English cricket, during which he worked closely with the Test captain Peter May. In 1963, he became MCC president, and was made the club’s treasurer the following year. In this role, he was deeply involved in the D’Oliveira affair, a controversy over the potential selection of Basil D’Oliveira to tour South Africa. After Allen’s gradual retirement from his administrative roles, he was knighted in 1986 and spent his later years in a flat close to Lord’s, where he died, aged 87, in 1989.

NB the photograph shows Allen bowling for England in the First Test against India at Lord’s in June 1936.

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