page_title: Gubby Allen
section_title: Tour of Australia, 1936–37
hierarchical_section_title: Gubby Allen / England captain / Tour of Australia, 1936–37
caption_attribution_description: English: Gubby Allen bowling to Stan McCabe, 4-9 December 1936
context_page_description: Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen CBE was a cricketer who captained England in eleven Test matches. In first-class matches, he played for Middlesex and Cambridge University. A fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, Allen later became an influential cricket administrator who held key positions in the Marylebone Cricket Club, which effectively ruled English cricket at the time; he also served as chairman of the England selectors.
  Allen was born in Australia and grew up in England from the age of six. After playing cricket for Eton College, he went to Cambridge University where he established a reputation as a fast bowler, albeit one who was often injured. After leaving university, Allen played mainly for Middlesex. He improved as a batsman in the following seasons until work commitments forced him to play less regularly. A change of career allowed him to play more cricket, and by the late 1920s he was on the verge of the England Test team. He made his debut in 1930, and remained in contention for a place, when he was available to play, for the rest of the decade.
context_section_description: The inexperience of the tour manager, Rupert Howard, and Allen's vice-captain, Walter Robins, left Allen with a heavy workload for the 1936–37 tour; he later suggested to the MCC that this affected his form. In the early part of the tour, Allen selected the team by himself, but later used Robins, Bob Wyatt, Wally Hammond and Maurice Leyland as a selection committee.
  The team was hampered throughout by injuries—at one point, seven of the sixteen players were unfit—and the absence of senior players meant that Allen had to play more matches. He played well in the early games, but the team's results were poor as players struggled to adapt to the Australian pitches. When the Test series began, Australia were clear favourites. In the first Test, in reply to England's first innings of 358, Australia were bowled out for 234. When England batted again, Allen top-scored with 68, an innings he later rated the best of his career. England made 256 and, on a pitch affected by rain, Allen took five for 36 as Australia were bowled out for 58 to lose by 322 runs. Allen's team also won the second Test. England scored 426 for six on the first two days before rain prompted Allen to declare. On a damaged pitch, he took four for 10; Australia were bowled out for 80 and eventually lost by an innings. During the second Australian innings, Bradman, the Australian captain, who went on to score 82, was at one point dropped by Robins. The latter apologised, but Allen replied: "Oh, forget it, old boy, it's probably cost us the rubber, but what the hell!"
  Rain affected the third Test; on the second day, Australia declared having scored 200 for nine in their first innings. In reply, England lost regular wickets as the effects of rain made the pitch almost impossible to bat on. Several critics, including members of his own team, suggested Allen should have declared to force Australia to bat when the pitch remained very difficult. Allen considered the risk to be too great and did not declare until the score had reached 76 for nine. Bradman then reversed his batting order to protect his main batsmen until the conditions eased; the tactic worked, as he and Jack Fingleton shared a partnership of 346 for the sixth wicket. Bradman scored 270 and England were defeated by 365 runs. In the fourth Test, Australia were bowled out for 288 in their first innings, when several of Allen's tactical moves worked well. England replied with 330, and Australia scored 433 in the second innings. Needing to score 392 to win, England were bowled out for 243, and the series was level at 2–2.
  Complaining of exhaustion, and struggling with an injury, Allen rested from the MCC's next tour games. He was criticised for this, by Warner among others, particularly when the team lost in his absence. Allen proposed that he miss the final Test, but the other selectors insisted he play. For the game, Australia chose a fast bowler, Laurie Nash, who had returned to first-class cricket after a three-year absence to play for Victoria against the MCC. Allen, concerned over the possible use of Bodyline by Nash, who had bowled short against the MCC, spoke to Bradman before the game. Bradman replied that an opposing captain could not veto members of his team, at which Allen went to the umpires and threatened to bring his team off the field if Bodyline was used. Struggling with a leg injury, Allen was below his best. Australia won the toss, scored 604 and, assisted by rain, bowled England out for 239 and 165 to win the match and series; Nash did not bowl short.
  The series was watched by over 900,000 people in total; the MCC took home a larger profit than on any previous tour. Allen was treated sympathetically by press and public. The Wisden review of the tour suggested: "It would be churlish to criticise Allen's captaincy. During the first two Tests, almost every one of his moves succeeded instantly ... No doubt, Allen had studied his opponents carefully and knew their weaknesses, and if his tactics were not always dictated by accepted principles they certainly proved very successful. Those who at
caption: Allen bowling to Stan McCabe during the first Test of the 1936–37 Ashes
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image ExifOffset": "90", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "350", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "182"}