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Full name | Albert John Watkins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales | 21 April 1922|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 3 August 2011 Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England | (aged 89)|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Left-arm medium-fast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:
Cricinfo |
Albert John "Allan" Watkins (21 April 1922 – 3 August 2011) was a Welsh cricketer, who played for England in fifteen Tests from 1948 to 1952.
Born in Usk, Monmouthshire, [1] Allan Watkins made his debut for Glamorgan just three weeks after his seventeenth birthday in 1939, as World War II loomed. He served in the war as a firefighter in the Royal Navy. [2]
He was a left-handed all-rounder: a capable batsman, a medium to fast-medium bowler and a brilliant close fielder, particularly at short leg. [1] He was the first Glamorgan cricketer to score a century in Tests for England, and played for the county until 1961, when he was 39 years old and struggling with asthma. [2]
Watkins toured South Africa in 1948-49 and India and Pakistan in 1951-52 with the English Test team, and also participated in the 1955-56 'A' Tour to Pakistan. In 1953–54, he played with the Commonwealth XI in India, returning home early through injury.
He was voted Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year after a successful Test series there in 1951–52. During that series Watkins battled his way to a nine-hour-long, unbeaten 137, in Delhi, his best Test score. Watkins' best Test performances were overseas, as his five home Tests did not provide a single innings above fifty. [1] His other Test century came in the Fourth Test at Johannesburg in 1948–49, when he made 111. [3]
Watkins scored 1000 runs in an English season 13 times, and also took 100 wickets in 1954 and 1955, thus achieving the double in those two seasons. [2]
He also played football for Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle, [4] and Rugby union for Pontypool. [2] He played Minor Counties cricket for Suffolk in 1965 and 1966. [5]
Watkins went on to successfully coach school cricket, most notably at Oundle School and Framlingham College. [2] He died in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, on 3 August 2011, following a short illness. [6]