Allan Lamb is a former cricketer as well as a captain for the English team who is currently working for the Sky sports and is seen hosting other cricket broadcasts as an analyst.
Allan played for the first-class team of the Western Province and joined Northampton shire as an International player so he could play for the English team for Test cricket.
Compared to Test cricket, Allan Lamb has been more successful in the One-day international format, averaging fewer than 40 with over 4,000 runs. He was also one of the only fifteen English cricket players to play in over 100 ODI matches.
He also played in two cricket World Cup finals including 1987 and 1992. Allan Lamb’s best and famous innings came in the 4th ODI match of the 1987 Benson & Hedges World Series Cup against Australia. England needed 17 runs to win off the final over to win the final. Lamb was able to hit 18 runs in 5 balls including 2, 4, 6, 2, and 4 to seal a very convincing win.
Allan made his first-team debut in January 1973 for the Currie Cup by playing for the Western Province. Being at no.3 for batting, he made a score of 59 and 36 against the Eastern Province. He arrived in England hoping for popularity by getting his hands on a county contract. This materialized by his hiring for Northampton Shire in 1978.
Allan, even though a national of South Africa, could not play for international cricket owing to his country’s government policy of apartheid. Thus he had to migrate to England and crediting his immense talent and struggle, he was chosen to be a part of the national team within only four years.
In 1982, he made his One-day International and subsequently, made his first Test debut playing against India. He made 14 centuries in Test cricket along with 18 fifties. He scored 4 centuries in the ODIs along with 26 half-centuries.
Allan also wrote his own Autobiography ‘Silence of the Lamb’ which was published in 1996, one year after this great cricketer’s retirement.
