Lives in Cricket No 1 - Allan Watkins

Introduction I first met Allan Watkins when I was asked to write a book on Don Shepherd. As I set out to see those who had played with Don, my first port of call had been Jim McConnon, whom I met just months before his death. Delightful man as Jim was, I had found his observations on cricket locked in the past. It was almost as though he had not noticed that the game had moved on into the commercial age of coloured clothing and third umpires. How different it was when I called to see Allan Watkins a few weeks later. At his Oundle home, with his wife of sixty years beside him and chipping in freely, the conversation never flagged for three hours. Here was a man with the sharpest of memories and a perceptive eye for the deficiencies of the modern game. I soon discovered, too, that Allan has a gift for language – the spicy phrase that brings recollections to life and allows emotions to shine through. When the idea was floated that the ACS should introduce a series of short biographies of cricketers whose deeds had not been previously chronicled, I wasted no time in lifting the telephone to Allan Watkins. He is, after all, a considerable cricketer with 20,361 first-class runs, 833 wickets and 461 catches. In the 1950s, of England-qualified players, only Trevor Bailey could lay serious claim to a better all-round record; and there was certainly a period when Allan’s performances were superior to those of the man who was cemented into the England team. With 15 Test caps, perhaps fewer than he merited, Allan’s story deserves to be more widely told. I was delighted that Allan immediately agreed to co-operate with the project. Sadly, by 2006, he was a widower, so the occasional asides that find their way into the book from his devoted Molly have come frommy earlier visit to the Watkins’ home. It has been a huge pleasure to sit and listen to Allan drawing on his long and vivid memory of a life with the humblest of origins that became, through cricket, one of rich fulfilment. Allan’s has been a life with few regrets, but it has not been free from moments of anguish and self-doubt, and I have felt very privileged to be allowed to hear of the inner turmoils that have afflicted him. Douglas Miller, May 2007 6