Allan Joseph Lamb (born 20 June 1954) is a South African-born former English cricketer, who played for the first-class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire.
Allan Lamb was born to British parents in Langebaanweg, Union of South Africa.
In January 1973, Allan made his first team debut at the age of 18 when he played for the Western Province in the Currie Cup.
[1] He then had a two-year absence from the game and joined the National Service in the South African Air Force building airfields before returning to the club.
[3][4] Lamb spent 18 seasons at the County Ground between 1978 and 1995, and scored more than 30,000 runs in 600 appearances for the club across first-class and limited overs cricket.
[8] In 1970, South Africa were banned from international cricket indefinitely because of its government's policy of apartheid.
[20] His most significant if fortuitous intervention in the series however came in the field during the fifth Test in a tense climax when a shot from Australian wicketkeeper Wayne Phillips hit Lamb's boot and bounced to David Gower who claimed a catch.
Despite England retaining the Ashes in Australia, it wasn't the best of series for Lamb who could only manage 144 runs at 18.
[23] Back in the side after a year’s absence, Lamb returned to face the might of the West Indies.
[24] Injured in the fourth Test, Lamb couldn't play in the final match of the series.
This was the first win of Lamb’s career against the West Indies and the only time he was Man of the Match in a Test.
Played with the wounds of England’s World Cup Final loss to Pakistan still fresh there was a lot of bad blood in the series.
It was the end of an era with it and the final Test series for stalwarts such as Ian Botham, David Gower and Derek Pringle.
Lamb’s final Test was at Lord’s, a match England narrowly lost by 2 wickets.
[41] Lamb’s style of play was well suited to the limited over game and he was a staple of the English side for 10 years.
That over would be the subject of a cheeky banner used for the next match between the two sides which read "Can Bruce Reid please call Allan Lamb on 24624".
[47] With a 2, 4, 4 wides, 1 no-ball and single and then a 4, England secured the two wicket victory with three balls spare.
[48] England finished second in its group and avenged its semi-final defeat from four years earlier with a 35 run victory over India to advance to the final.
Australia batting first let loose at the end of their innings scoring 65 from the final 6 overs - runs that would prove vital in a total of 5/253.
In his third world cup, England were one of the strongest teams and Lamb couldn't make his way into the XI during the first half of the tournament but played the final four games.
England defeated South Africa in a controversial semi-final affected by rain - this was the only time Lamb played a match against his country of birth.
Lamb was subsequently involved in media allegations and legal action relating to ball-tampering in cricket.
[51] Lamb only made his Test debut at 28 and would be a lynchpin of the English middle order for the next 10 years.
Lamb played 122 One Day internationals of which England won 64, lost 55, tied 1 with 2 abandoned.
He only enjoyed 2 Test wins against the West Indies, but as of May 2022 still holds the England record for the most Test centuries against the West Indies, joint with Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Colin Cowdrey.
Unlike these other players, Lamb scored these centuries at a time when the West Indies were clearly the best Test team in the world.
His sole Ashes century came at Headingley in 1989 in a match England lost in disappointing fashion.
Malcolm Marshall dismissed him the most on 13 occasions and Geoff Lawson was next most with 8 Lord’s was Lamb’s most prolific ground scoring 959 at 43.59 with 4 centuries.
He created a sporting events and global travel company called Lamb Associates.