Lives in Cricket No 1 - Allan Watkins

find out.’ They didn’t quite believe me, but I went and knocked and a lady came to the door and I said, ‘Is Mr John Arlott at home?’ She said, ‘I don’t know. Who are you?’ I said, ‘I’m Allan Watkins.’ She said, ‘Oh, Allan, come in.’ This was John’s second wife. In the kitchen John opened two bottles of wine. He had the red and I had the white. There we were drinking and a knock came on the door. John’s wife went to the door and I could hear voices. ‘Is Mr Watkins coming or staying?’ She said, ‘Mr Watkins is with John in the kitchen and he’s staying!’” Later that day, when Allan had re-joined the boys, he was presented with a bottle of port. “Here you are, Allan, we won’t disbelieve you again!” When his coaching days were over and they had to give up the home provided by the school, Allan and Molly thought about returning to Usk; but they decided to stay in Oundle, moving into another house in the same residential area of the town. Allan now had the chance to play more golf and he and Molly enjoyed holidays abroad, with Malta a particularly favoured retreat. Their retirement was the more contented for knowing that all four of their children had found good jobs. Both sons, now retired, rose to hold important positions in the teaching profession and each of them had moments when they threatened to emulate their father’s sporting eminence. Both boys excelled at rugby. Allen played for Pontypool, where he stood in for Clive Rowlands, when the Welsh scrum half was on international duty. After moving to Suffolk, he played divisional rugby for Eastern Counties and, had he not moved to the Midlands, Allan believes he might have challenged for Nigel Starmer-Smith’s place as England scrum half. David, meanwhile, was an outstanding player at Monmouth School. Playing against the old boys’ XV, his unusual ability to jink off both feet made a profound impression on the great Haydn Tanner, “I’ve seen the next outside half for Wales,” Allan remembers Tanner saying. The boys also enjoyed success on the cricket field, Allen recalling days playing for the Welsh schoolboys and facing up to the pace of future Test bowler David Brown, while David once claimed an analysis for Usk of four overs with four maidens and seven wickets with his off spinners. “I loved cricket but never with the same passion as rugby,” he says, going on to talk of the magical Welsh players of his generation, Gareth Edwards and Barry John, who fired his enthusiasm for the game. 102 ‘Go Back to What You Love’