Glamorgan all-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Albert-John-Watkins-c42991 dies at 89 - Cricket News Update
Allan Watkins, an English all-rounder, died on Wednesday in a hospital in Kidderminster, at the age of 89. He used to play for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Glamorgan-c784.
He played 15 Tests for England between 1948 and 1952 and has the honour to be the first Glamorgan player to score a ton and was also the first player to participate in an Ashes Test.
In February 1949, the left-handed all-rounder’s individual pinnacle came during the winter at Johannesburg, where he played a superb innings of 111 runs against the Proteas. During his blistering knock, he smashed 15 boundaries and afterwards marked the
accomplishment by naming his home, “Ellis Park” to pay tribute to the venue.
Three years later, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780. In the same match he also bowled his career best bowling figures and grabbed three wickets for just 20 runs.
The aged Allan was a great sportsman and because of his all-round ability, he was a vital member of the Glamorgan team, which won the County Championship for the first time ever in 1948.
In his First-class career, he played 407 games and claimed 50 or more wickets eight times during 1949 to 1956, taking 774 wickets in total, while in batting he scored 17419 runs.
He was not impressive in his first game in 1948, at the Oval, where he scored 0 and 7 in two innings and could not bowl more than four overs because he was hit on the shoulder.
However, that was the match in which http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Donald-George-Bradman-c54397 was also playing. He was clean bowled on a duck in his last Test innings, and Watkins has the honour of being the last player to field a ball from him. Bradman’s Career average
was marooned at 99.94 by a splendidly bowled googly by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/William-Eric-Hollies-c97007.
The left-arm mediumpacer was born on April 21, 1922, in Usk, Monmouthshire. He started his career in 1939, but due to World War II, he could not develop rapidly.
However, in 1946 he smashed his maiden century against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Surrey-c851 at Cardiff Arms Park. After five years of his First-class debut, his home County merged with Glamorgan.
Watkins smashed his career best score of 170 and remained unbeaten against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Leicestershire-c807 in 1954, and in the same season he bowled his career best bowling and took seven wickets for just 28 runs against Derbyshire at Chesterfield.
Watkins said good bye to first-class cricket in 1962, and embarked on a four-decade long coaching career at Oundle School.
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