Lives in Cricket No 1 - Allan Watkins

Allan returned to well deserved applause. “I walked towards the dressing room,” he recalls, “and the first person who met me was Cyril Washbrook. Cyril said ‘I hope that’s the first of many.’ Then I walked into the dressing room and Len Hutton was sat there. He said, ‘If you don’t cut out that bloody hook shot, you won’t get any runs on a Sunday afternoon.’ That was Len Hutton’s congratulations for me getting my first hundred in Test matches!” Allan’s innings, followed by the early loss of prime South African wickets, gave England control of the match. Once again Mann’s declaration failed to tempt batsmen for whom survival was their dominant priority throughout the series, though Allan picked up a couple of top order wickets in the fourth innings. So England came to the final Test at Port Elizabeth knowing that they could not lose the series. The tourists were still undefeated in all matches but, replying to South Africa’s 379, it was only thanks to an unbeaten 136 by their popular captain that they avoided following on and eventually led by 16 on first innings. South Africa’s batsmen had once again lacked enterprise, and they had still shown surprisingly little urgency in their second innings when Nourse made a belated gesture to square the series. His declaration set England to make 172 in 95 minutes. Such challenges were rarely accepted by teams not needing to win, but Mann determined to have a go. The early batsmen set off at a cracking pace, but wickets soon began to fall. Allan, held back with Crapp to shore up the innings should things go wrong, found his nerves tested to the limit. Usually a chain smoker as he waited to bat, he recalls talking in the dressing room with Compton: “I said ‘Are you ever nervous, Denis?’ He said, ‘What do you think this is?’ His hand was shaking like a leaf! He said, ‘People who tell you they’re not nervous going in to bat are not worth a candle.’” At 153 for seven, as Allan went in to join Crapp, 19 runs were still required with ten minutes remaining. “I asked the skipper for instructions before I walked to the wicket,” Allan later told a reporter, “And he said, ‘Do your best to stay there, but try and get the runs.’” With Allan working the strike for his partner, ten were needed as Mann began what might have been the final eight-ball over. There were three singles then Crapp ‘smote three times with the power of a blacksmith’. Four, two, four – and the match was won with a minute to spare with what were to be Jack Crapp’s last strokes in Test cricket. South African Adventure 52