Paul John Walter Allott (born 14 September 1956) is a former English

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 str ...

er who played county cricket for

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 Lancash ...

Minor Counties 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 ...

cricket for Staffordshire and first-class cricket in New Zealand for

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, as well as thirteen

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

appearances and thirteen One Day International appearances for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was a powerfully built, skilful right-arm medium-fast swing bowler, who could also bat adequately at number 9. He was part of a Lancashire side that was successful in List A cricket, winning five trophies between 1984 and 1990, including the

Refuge Assurance League The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect large numbers of matches being played on days o ...

in 1989. Allott helped to clinch the latter triumph with some late-order hitting in the deciding fixture. A consistent county performer, he was at his best in English conditions, but lacked that extra zip to enjoy more than a respectable Test career. He scored his maiden first-class half century on his Test debut against Australia at Old Trafford in 1981, also taking four wickets in the match. For three years he was in and out of the side, then had his best Test series in 1984 against the

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, taking his best Test figures of 6/61 at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

. However England lost every match in that series. He was forced home from the 1984–85 tour of India due to back trouble, and this effectively curtailed his progression in the Test match arena. He struggled in his last test series against Australia in 1985, and was replaced with Richard Ellison, who was instantly more successful. Sheepishly, he recollected: "They dropped me and picked Richard Ellison, so in a way I won

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

for England". In Tests he took 26 wickets at 41.69 each. Allott left his job as a commentator for

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to become director of cricket at

for the 2018 season. He left this role at the end of the 2021 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allott, Paul 1956 births Living people Directors of Cricket English cricket commentators English cricketers England One Day International cricketers Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup England Test cricketers Lancashire cricketers Wellington cricketers People from Altrincham Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Staffordshire cricketers Cheshire cricketers English male non-fiction writers Alumni of the College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham Test and County Cricket Board XI cricketers D. B. Close's XI cricketers