Maurice James Carrick Allom (23 March 1906 – 8 April 1995) was an English

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played in five

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

from 1930 to 1931.

Life and career

Allom attended

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the village of Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,200 pupils, between the ages of 13 and ...

, before going up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He played cricket for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

from 1926 to 1928 and for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

from 1927 to 1937. He toured with the English Test team to New Zealand in 1929-30, where he played all four Tests, and to South Africa in 1930-31, where he played one Test. He and his former Cambridge team-mate

Maurice Turnbull Maurice Joseph Lawson Turnbull (16 March 1906 – 5 August 1944) was a Welsh cricketer who played in nine Test matches for the England cricket team between 1930 and 1936. A talented all round sportsman, Turnbull excelled in several sports. In ...

wrote a book about each tour: ''The Book of the Two Maurices: Being some account of the tour of an M.C.C. team through Australia and New Zealand in the closing months of 1929 and the beginning of 1930'' (1930) and ''The Two Maurices Again: Being some account of the tour of the M.C.C. team through South Africa in the closing months of 1930 and the beginning of 1931'' (1931). Almost 6 feet 6 inches tall, Allom was able to get the ball to rise sharply off the pitch. His most successful season was 1930, when he took 108 wickets at 23.33, twice dismissing

Don Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...

. His best innings figures were 9 for 55, for Cambridge against The Army in 1927. Along with

Peter Petherick Peter James Petherick (25 September 1942 – 7 June 2015) was a New Zealand cricketer who represented New Zealand in six Test cricket matches between October 1976 and March 1977 as an off-spinner. He is one of two New Zealand bowlers to achieve ...

and

Damien Fleming Damien William Fleming (born 24 April 1970) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for the Australian national cricket team and domestic cricket for Victoria. He played in 20 Tests and 88 ODIs from 1994 to 2001 an ...

, Allom is one of only three players to have taken a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

on Test debut. It was also

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's first Test match. In the same Test, he also became the first Test player to take four wickets in five balls, a feat later matched by

Chris Old Chris Old (born Christopher Middleton Old, 22 December 1948) is a former English cricketer, who played 46 Tests and 32 ODIs from 1972 to 1981. A right-arm fast-medium bowler and lower order left-handed batsman, Old was a key feature of the Yorks ...

and

Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several criti ...

. He finished with first innings figures of 5 for 38, and added 3 for 17 in the second innings. England won by eight wickets. He served as Surrey's President from 1970 to 1977, and as President of

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) in 1969–70. He was amember of MCC for 70 years, from 1925 until his death. He was also a skilful saxophonist, who played in

Fred Elizalde Federico "Fred" Díaz Elizalde (December 12, 1907 – January 16, 1979) was a Filipino people of Spanish ancestry, Spanish Filipino classical and jazz pianist, composer, conductor, and bandleader, influential in the British dance band era. Biogr ...

's band in the 1920s. Allom was married for almost half a century to Pamela, and after she died in 1980 he married the widow of the pre-war

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

captain Peter Eckersley, who had died on active service in 1940. His son

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonia (gens), Antonii'', a ''gens'' (Roman naming conventions, Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were ...

played first-class cricket for

and was one of the tallest people to have played the game, standing between 6 ft 9 ins and 6 ft 10 ins (around 2.07 m).

References

External links

Maurice Allom
at CricketArchive

at

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allom, Maurice 1906 births 1995 deaths People from Northwood, London People from Shipbourne People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Cambridge University cricketers English cricketers England Test cricketers Surrey cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Test cricket hat-trick takers Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Allom, Maurice Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 L. H. Tennyson's XI cricket team Marylebone Cricket Club South African Touring Team cricketers