Gubby Under Pressure

gave me two more days treatment for my knee, which is now quite sound again I think, and a longer holiday which I needed badly.’ This opportunity to have, once again, a taste of the ‘high life’ on tour brought home to Allen just what he had been missing and prompts him to reveal what he believes is the real reason for an MCC captain to fail to do justice to himself on the field. ‘Being captain of an MCC team in this country nowadays means so much more hard work than I thought and, so far as I have to have a fair amount of peace in order to be in a fit state of mind to play cricket, some things just have to be left. I hate missing my weekly letter, as I know you will be wondering what is the matter. At the start of the tour I struggled and battled through everything, but now I find I simply can’t manage it, in fact I have had to give up almost all private parties just before or during big matches which is sad.’ He also returns to the vexed question of unwanted correspondence: ‘I get between ten and fifteen letters a day, all of which have to be answered.’ His next letter was written during the vital Fourth Test in Adelaide and concerns itself exclusively with the action taking place on the field. The letter after that reviewed prospects for the Fifth and final Test and had no space for any complaints, as he had spent some more quality time with relatives in Melbourne. He was also looking forward to staying with Lord Gowrie in Canberra for a couple of days and then enjoying a long weekend with the family of Sir Claude Reading before driving back to Sydney. The opportunity to enjoy some solitary peace and quiet for several hundred miles, while at the wheel of a 25hp Morris, described by Allen as ‘a beauty with a wireless in it’, was thanks to the generosity of Lord Nuffield who was touring Australia at the same time. The official demands at Canberra proved to be the final nail in the coffin of Allen’s ever decreasing patience and tolerance. The visit to the very centre of Australian politics was seen as the icing on the cake for an MCC tour designed to bring final and complete reconciliation between the two countries and cement the bonds of ‘Empire’. The Australian Prime Minister invited the whole team to Parliament House, where Allen had to make another speech, followed by yet another for over 700 guests at an evening garden party arranged by the British High Commissioner. And there was no escape for Allen at the two day match in Canberra, despite deciding not to play, where he found himself having to entertain such prestigious pavilion and marquee guests as the Australian Prime Minister, the Governor General, Lord Gowrie, and several Australian cabinet ministers. In addition to these duties, Allen made three other speeches and then finally declared: ‘After planting a tree and presenting a stone to the Grammar School, I left, a complete wreck.’ When Allen finally arrived in Sydney six days later during the state match with New South Wales he was at the end of his tether. ‘I went on to Sydney on the Monday morning and was bullied from pillar to post by one person after another until I could stand it no longer. There is no doubt that I have been worked to death the whole tour and am now really worn out. I thought I was going to be able to get away with it by giving up all my own private engagements, but I have failed and am now suffering for it.’ Missing those ‘private engagements’ must have been the last frustrating straw. There he was, back in what he considered his home town in Australia, his favourite city, full of Managing the show 29