Photo Credit: Queensland Cricket
Queensland Cricket has today expressed its condolences to the family and friends of former Australian pace bowler Peter Allan who has passed away.
Allan, at one stage the State’s all-time leading Sheffield Shield wicket-taker and the only Queenslander to claim all 10 wickets in a Shield innings, was 87.
He played one Test for Australia, making his debut in the opening clash of the 1965-66 Ashes tour at the Gabba in what became a roller coaster season for the tall right-arm quick who could swing the ball both ways.
He made a belated Test debut as a 29-year-old after making his first-class debut for Queensland in 1959-60 and touring the West Indies with Australia in 1964-65.
Diagnosed as a diabetic before the tour, he battled illness for much of the trip after making a promising start with a five-wicket haul against the Leeward Islands. Unable to push for a Test berth due to illness, he was forced to wait until England toured the following summer to make his mark at the highest level.
In his debut, which also featured a teenaged Doug Walters in his first game for his country, he took the new ball and claimed 2-58 from 21 overs in the first innings and 0-25 in the second innings of the drawn match.
He was 12th man for the Second Test and omitted for the Third Test, only to earn a recall for the Fourth Test in the wake of his astounding performance for Queensland against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield at the MCG in January 1966.
Allan finished with figures of 10 for 61 from 15.6 overs. He bowled unchanged in the innings, and with the overs being eight-ball overs at the time, it was the equivalent of 21 consecutive six-ball overs.
He was only the second player in Australian first-class cricket history to take all 10 wickets in an innings, and with WA’s Ian Brayshaw achieving the same feat the next season, was one of only three players to do so.
He succumbed to an ankle injury on the eve of the Fourth Test, which saw him replaced by Graham McKenzie and he was subsequently overlooked for future Tests.
His remarkable summer had one final highlight, taking another 10-wicket haul in an innings, this time for South Brisbane in the Brisbane First Grade competition in March 1966.
Allan continued opening the bowling for Queensland until he retired after a successful 1968-69 season in which he headed the national averages with 46 wickets at 16.36.
His Sheffield Shield career tally of 182 wickets at 25.29 was the all-time record at the time.
In 57 first class games, including 52 matches for Queensland, he took 206 wickets at an average of 26.10 and claimed 5 wickets in an innings on 12 occasions to go with his 10-wicket haul.
His post-cricket career featured a variety of roles, including with the Brisbane City Council where he held a senior post managing Queen Elizabeth II Stadium post the 1982 Commonwealth Games, as a hotel publican and a civil celebrant on Hamilton Island.
Queensland Cricket Chair Chris Simpson said Allan’s passing brought down the curtain on an exceptional career.
“Peter had great skill as a bowler which was also mixed with determination – he typified that strike bowler role in the teams he played for,’’ he said.
“He served on the executive committee of the Queensland Cricket Association from 1985 to 1991 and was generous with his time and insights for any aspiring player who sought him out.”
“His feat of taking 10 wickets in an innings remains a high point in Australian cricket.”
“Peter made a wonderful contribution to cricket in Queensland and on behalf of Queensland Cricket, we thank him for his service to the game.”
