Lives in Cricket No 1 - Allan Watkins

Chosen to play for MCC against the Pakistanis in May, Allan was still in the selectors’ thoughts. Although he had not been on the list of those sounded out for availability to tour Australia, it seemed that his good form had brought him a place in the party when an extra man was to be chosen as a precaution against possible problems with Denis Compton’s knee. “We were at Birmingham and Wilf said, ‘Champagne’s on you, Watty. You’re going to Australia!’” Who passed this information to Wooller? And why was it wrong? Charles Palmer, until his death in 2005 the last survivor of those who picked the touring party, had no recollection of any committee discussion about this final place, and it seems that Hutton’s preference for another left-hander, Vic Wilson from his own county, carried the day. Like Allan, Wilson was a good close fielder, badly needed by a team from which both Trueman and Lock had been excluded. He had had a good season with the bat, but questions were asked about his technique for Australian pitches and he had no pretence to being a bowler. There were inspired selections for the tour, notably Frank Tyson and Colin Cowdrey, but Wilson was not one of them. Had Allan travelled, he might have replaced an under-used support bowler – by the end of the third Test, Wardle had bowled only 11 overs – and added welcome ballast to a batting order with a long tail. But it was not to be. This was the man who had been one of the most surprising Test selections when pitted against Don Bradman’s Invincibles. But six years later, when the selectors chose to overlook his claims, he was a far better cricketer. Peter Walker, who came into the Glamorgan side as Allan’s powers were on the wane, remembers him as a brave batsman. “There were a lot of quick bowlers around then, but he never took a step towards square leg.” A back-foot player, he was a strong hooker and cutter of the ball. “Anything short of a length, he was onto it straightaway,” Don Shepherd says, “and he hit it flat, so it was a reasonably safe shot.” Peter Walker echoes the views of others in recalling Allan as “a phenomenal player of wrist spin. George Tribe used to run through the rest of the world, but Allan always got runs against him.” Allan himself admits to being happier against wrist spin than conventional finger spinners. His method of playing wrist spinners never relied on watching the ball out of the hand. “As a back-foot player, I watched the ball in the air and I watched it off the wicket, and if it was up to me I just played it quietly back, but anything The Best All-Rounder in English Cricket 76