Frank Allan

Not to be confused with Frank Allan (bishop) or Frank Allen (disambiguation).

Frank Allan

Caricature of Allan, 1877

Personal information

Full name

Francis Erskine Allan

Born

2 December 1849
Allansford, Victoria, Australia

Died

9 February 1917 (aged 67)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Nickname

The Bowler of a Century

Batting style

right-handed batsman (RHB)

Bowling style

left arm medium

International information

National side

Australian

Career statistics

Competition	Tests	First-class
Matches	1	31
Runs scored	5	371
Batting average	5.00	10.91
100s/50s	0/0	0/0
Top score	5	35*
Balls bowled	180
Wickets	4	123
Bowling average	20.00	13.31
5 wickets in innings	0	11
10 wickets in match	0	2
Best bowling	2/30	8/20
Catches/stumpings	0/0	14/0

Source: Cricinfo

Francis Erskine "Frank" Allan (2 December 1849 in Allansford, Victoria, Australia – 9 February 1917 in Melbourne) was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test in 1879.

In February 1869, Allan made his first-class debut for Victoria in an intercolonial match against New South Wales. Allan and Victorian captain Tom Wills obliterated the New South Wales batsmen with 8/20 in the first innings and 7/44 in the second innings respectively, securing Victoria's 78-run win.^[1] Allan's successes in intercolonial cricket earned him the sobriquet "the bowler of a century".^[2]

Allan was probably past his best by the time Test cricket arrived but had a reputation as a superb medium pace bowler (though would probably be more regarded as a spin bowler in modern cricket).

On the Australians tour of 1878 to England, Allan produced some excellent spells of bowling to take over 200 wickets in all games on the tour. However he was troubled by bouts of sickness from the point of arrival in England as he struggled to adjust to the cold weather.

Allan's only Test came against the touring Lord Harris XI in 1879. He had been selected for the first two Tests two years earlier but had declined selection both times, including preferring to attend the Warrnambool Agricultural Fair with friends than playing in the inaugural Test match.^[3]

Allan was also a leading Australian rules footballer for the South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).^[4]

References

↑ "New South Wales v Victoria in 1868/69", Cricket Archive. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
↑ Moyes, Alban George. Australian Bowlers from Spofforth to Lindwall. Angus and Robertson, 1953, p. 29
↑ Knox, p. 5.
↑ Atkinson, p. 180.

Sources

Atkinson, G. (1982) Everything you ever wanted to know about Australian rules football but couldn't be bothered asking, The Five Mile Press: Melbourne. ISBN 0 86788 009 0.
Knox, Malcolm (2010). The Captains. Hardie Grant Publishing. ISBN 978-1-74066-956-6.
Cricinfo page

Australia squad – Australia vs England 1878–79 Test (winners)

Gregory (c) Allan A. Bannerman C. Bannerman Blackham (†) Boyle Garrett Horan Kelly Murdoch Spofforth

Australian first-class cricket season leading wicket-takers (1850–51 to 1899–1900)

1850–51: Antill 1851–52: Henty 1852–53: – 1853–54: McDowall 1854–55: – 1855–56: Elliott/McKone 1856–57: Wills 1857–58: Wills 1858–59: Wills 1859–60: Richardson/Wills 1860–61: Cosstick 1861–62: Bennett 1862–63: Lawrence 1863–64: Grace 1864–65: – 1865–66: Conway/Cosstick 1866–67: Gregory 1867–68: Wills 1868–69: Cosstick 1869–70: Cosstick 1870–71: Reid 1871–72: Allan 1872–73: Cosstick 1873–74: – 1874–75: Coates 1875–76: Evans 1876–77: Shaw 1877–78: Evans 1878–79: Emmett 1879–80: Cooper 1880–81: Evans 1881–82: Palmer 1882–83: Palmer 1883–84: Palmer 1884–85: Peel 1885–86: Spofforth 1886–87: Turner 1887–88: Turner 1888–89: Ferris 1889–90: Trumble 1890–91: Phillips 1891–92: Giffen 1892–93: Giffen 1893–94: Turner 1894–95: Giffen 1895–96: McKibbin 1896–97: McKibbin 1897–98: Jones 1898–99: Jones 1899–1900: Noble

Leading run-scorers: 1850–51 to 1899–00 1900–01 to 1949–50 1950–51 to 1999–00 2000–01 onwards Leading wicket-takers: 1850–51 to 1899–00 1900–01 to 1949–50 1950–51 to 1999–00 2000–01 onwards

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