Lives in Cricket No 1 - Allan Watkins

Chapter Five South African Adventure The County Championship coming to Wales – it had never happened before and it was a time for special celebration. Two extra matches were played, the first bringing Allan his second century of the season, when Glamorgan edged home by two wickets against a South of England XI at Swansea, and the second, against an All England XI at Cardiff, ending in a draw. That winter the players assembled for a ‘family dinner’ at the Dorothy Café in Cardiff and later on there was a formal reception at the City Hall. But Allan was unable to join his team-mates for either event. Soon after the announcement of his selection for the Oval Test, he had heard that he was to be included in the MCC party for the winter’s tour of South Africa. “I was so thrilled that I was picked to go to South Africa,” he says, his face still lighting up as he recalls the excitement that lay ahead. The day before the Glamorgan players dined at the Dorothy, the tourists had boarded the boat train at Waterloo. A flight across the Bristol Channel with the Glamorgan team for their match with Somerset had been the nearest the young man from Usk had come to experiencing foreign travel. Now he was to be at sea for three weeks, sailing south of the equator on board the SS Durban Castle. One of the richest chapters of his life was about to open. “It was a wonderful tour. Everybody was so friendly. We were invited out everywhere. If we were in somebody’s area and it was a weekend match, there’d be two or three invited out to go and have a meal there. The manager had to cut down on what people wanted us to do. I thought all touring sides were like this!” The party of 16 was a blend of experience and younger players. With Hutton and Washbrook as established openers, Compton at number four and skipper George Mann at six, there were two batting places in the Test side to be contested between Allan, fellow left-hander Jack Crapp and two young amateurs, Reg Simpson and Charles Palmer. Though Crapp had enjoyed a good domestic season, the three younger players all owed their 45