Allan Watkins

Allan Watkins played in 15 Tests for England between 1948 and 1952 and became the first Glamorgan player to score a Test hundred when he notched 111 in three-and-a-quarter hours against South Africa at Ellis Park in Johannesburg in 1949. His England debut, against Australia at The Oval in 1948, when he became the first Glamorgan player to appear in an Ashes Test, was a different story. He made 0 and 7. He added a second Test century against India in Delhi, when his nine-hour long slog to reach an unbeaten 137 helped to earn him the title of Indian Cricket’s ‘Cricketer of the Year’ in 1951–52.

His first-class career began in 1939, but it wasn’t until after WW2 that career finally began to flourish. He scored his maiden century against Surrey at Cardiff Arms Park in 1946. In 407 appearances for Glamorgan, he scored 17,419 runs and took 774 wickets, passing 1000 runs in every season bar one from 1947 to 1960, and claiming 50 or more wickets eight times between 1949 and 1956. He played a key role in the Welsh side’s inaugural County Championship title success in 1948.

A talented all-round sportsman, he played football for both Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle. He retired from first-class cricket in 1962 and went on to coach at Oundle School for almost 40 years.

Albert John Watkins (Cricketer) Born in Usk on 21 April, 1922; Died in Kidderminster on 3 August, 2011