Basil Oliver Allen (13 October 1911 – 1 May 1981) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er. Allen was educated at

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

and

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

. A left-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and fine close fieldsman, he played for

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, established in 1820, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. The club was recognised as holding first-class cricket, first-class status until 2020. The university played ...

in 1932 and 1933."Obituaries", ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' 1982, p. 1193. He then enjoyed a long county career as an

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 ...

for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

from 1932 to 1951, captaining the county in 1937 and 1938 and from 1947 to 1950. He also played first-class matches for

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

from 1936 to 1939 and the

Gentlemen ''Gentleman'' (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man; abbreviated ''gent.'') is a term for a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire ...

in 1938. Allen scored 14 first-class hundreds, with his only double century, 220, coming against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

in 1947. His best season was 1938, when he scored 1785 runs at an average of 34.32."Obituaries", ''

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county, club and schools cricket. Overview The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cric ...

'', July 1981, p. 37.

References

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* 1911 births 1981 deaths English cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Gloucestershire cricket captains People educated at Clifton College Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Cricketers from Bristol Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers North v South cricketers Cambridge University cricketers 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-cricket-bio-1910s-stub