Allen had protected Colin Cowdrey at the other end, who was pressed in to bat with his broken arm in plaster.

[2] In the 1965–66 Ashes series Allen made 50 not out in the Third Test at Sydney, adding 93 for the last two wickets, and took 2/42 and 4/47 as England won by an innings and 93 runs.

Playing fairly regularly for England throughout the first half of the 1960s, after 1966 he found it increasingly difficult to score enough runs or get enough bowling at county level as trends changed.

Though Bissex lost form, the advent of Sadiq Mohammad, a useful leg spinner, saw Allen fade away from the county side in 1972.

[2] After he retired from cricket, Allen worked as an area manager for the Bristol wine merchants Harveys and then for Allied Domecq.