Michael Henry John ALLEN 1933-1995

	Player number 258 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 23 May 1956)
Birthplace	Bedford
	County Cap 1957
First-Class	155 matches, 1,418 runs @ 9.91; 424 wickets @ 21.57; 139 catches

An injury to Vince Broderick in May 1956 offered young slow left-armer Mick Allen his golden opportunity. A product of Bedford School (he had turned out for his native Bedfordshire as a 17-year-old) who joined Northamptonshire as a professional, he seized the chance with both hands, scoring 51 on debut against Worcestershire (without getting a bowl) and then taking 8-88 in the next match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge – picking up the last eight wickets in the innings after Frank Tyson had claimed the first two. The following season saw him join forces with the two Australian left-arm spinners, George Tribe and Jack Manning, to help Northamptonshire finish as runners-up to Surrey in the Championship. They harvested 305 wickets between them with Allen, not a prodigious turner of the ball but more than capable of exploiting helpful conditions, contributing 77. His all-round usefulness to the side was augmented by his excellent close fielding, holding 30 catches that summer, and a few handy runs. Thereafter, competition from the likes of Peter Watts and Malcolm Scott meant Allen was no longer an automatic choice in the first team, although only pace bowler David Larter bettered his haul of 76 wickets in 1962. He told the Northamptonshire committee he was unhappy at being ‘in the wilderness’ and, released by the club at the end of 1963, he extended his first-class career with three summers at Derbyshire – against whom he had claimed his career-best figures of 8-48 at Northampton in May 1961. He retired in 1966 with exactly 500 first-class wickets to his credit.