Christopher Wynyard Allen (7 May 1944 – 18 October 2012) was an English first-class cricketer. Allen was a right-handed batsman who bowled slow left-arm orthodox. He was born at Southampton, Hampshire. Allen moved to Lymington, Hampshire in 1964, when his parents took over The Mayflower pub in the town. Shortly after moving there, he began playing for Lymington Cricket Club, where he was initially encouraged to be a

seam bowler Seam bowling is a bowling technique in cricket whereby the ball is deliberately bowled on to its seam, to cause a random deviation when the ball bounces. Practitioners are known as ''seam bowlers'' or seamers. Seam bowling is generally classed ...

. While bowling slow left-arm orthodox in the nets at the County Ground, Southampton, he was spotted by Arthur Holt who encouraged him to stick with that bowling style. Having impressed in club cricket for Lymington, Allen briefly played for the Hampshire Second XI, before being selected to play

minor counties cricket The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

for Dorset, making his debut for the county in the 1976

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

against Cornwall. From 1976 to 1983, Allen played a total of 66 Minor Counties Championship matches, the last of which came against Shropshire. He also made a single appearance for the county in the 1983 MCCA Knockout Trophy against

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. He took a total of 252 wickets for Dorset. Allen also made a sole

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

appearance for Dorset in the

1983 NatWest Trophy The 1983 NatWest Trophy was an English limited overs county cricket tournament which was held between 29 June and 3 September 1983. The third NatWest Trophy competition, it was won by Somerset who defeated Kent by 24 runs in the final at Lord' ...

against first-class opponents Essex at

Dean Park, Bournemouth Dean Park is a cricket ground in Bournemouth, England, currently used by Bournemouth University Cricket Club, as well as by Parley Cricket Club and Suttoners Cricket Club. It was formerly used by Hampshire and Dorset County Cricket Clubs. This v ...

. In Dorset's innings 111 all out, Allen was dismissed for 7 runs by Neil Foster, while in Essex's innings he bowled 6 wicketless overs and

caught Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the ball h ...

Keith Fletcher, with Essex winning by 7 wickets. In club cricket, he took a total of 253 wickets in the Southern League for Lymington and the Southampton-based Deanery Cricket Club, as well as hundreds more in friendly matches across Hampshire. He went on to become the eighth leading wicket taker in the Southern League. He played a key role in Lymington's victory in the Southern league, taking 32 wickets. He also fulfilled the roles of Lymington

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, chairman and fixture secretary. He died on 18 October 2012, following a battle with bowel cancer.

References

External links

Christopher Allen
at ESPNcricinfo
Christopher Allen
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Christopher 1944 births 2012 deaths Cricketers from Southampton English cricketers Dorset cricketers Deaths from colorectal cancer in England