Editing Gubby Allen (section)

==Early life==
Allen was born on 31 July 1902 in [[Bellevue Hill, New South Wales|Bellevue Hill]], Sydney, Australia,{{refn|Allen's family had lived in Australia since his great-great-grandparents moved from England in 1816,<ref name=CA>{{cite web|title=Gubby Allen|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/0/559/559.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=3 May 2014}}</ref> and his paternal uncle, [[Reginald Allen (Australian cricketer)|Reginald Allen]], played cricket for Australia.<ref name=ODNB/><ref>{{cite web|title=Reginald Allen|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/0/99/99.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=1 May 2014}}</ref>|group=notes}}<ref name=S20>Swanton, p. 20.</ref> the second of three children to Walter Allen, a lawyer, and his wife Marguerite (Pearl), ''née'' Lamb, the daughter of [[Edward Lamb (politician)|Edward Lamb]], a [[Queensland]] government minister. Later rumours suggested that Allen's real father may have been the [[Middlesex County Cricket Club|Middlesex]] cricketer [[Pelham Warner]], who supported Allen in his cricket career.{{refn|Allen's team-mate [[Bob Wyatt]] recalled rumours in the 1930s that Warner was Allen's real father, and the cricket historian David Frith suggests that similar stories circulated in the 1980s, but only circumstantial evidence supports these rumours. Frith suggests that they may have been spread maliciously by enemies of Allen, but points out that Warner favoured Allen several times during his career, which he followed closely. Frith believes that Allen looked more like Warner than Walter Allen; he states that Warner was an admirer of Pearl Allen in the early 1900s, and was briefly in Australia at roughly the right period. According to Frith, the biography of Warner by Gerald Howat relates that Warner's wife was jealous of Pearl, and suggests that Warner regarded Allen as a "member of the family". Howat also calls Allen a "favoured son" of Warner.<ref name=father>Frith, pp. 63–64.</ref>|group=notes}}<ref name=ODNB>{{cite ODNB | last =Woodcock | first = John| title = Allen, Sir George Oswald Browning (1902–1989) |edition = online | year = 2004 | doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/40143| url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/40143?docPos=1 | access-date = 11 March 2013}}</ref><ref name=father/> Both of Allen's parents had roots in England as well as Australia. In 1909, when Allen was six years old, his family moved to London—hoping that the children would benefit from an English education<ref name=S20/>—where they initially lived in a flat before moving to various country villages.<ref name=S21>Swanton, p. 21.</ref> Finding that they enjoyed England, the family abandoned plans to return to Australia.<ref>Swanton, p. 2.</ref>

After being educated by a governess, Allen joined [[Summer Fields School]] in Oxford in 1912. He began to play cricket seriously at school; by his second year, he reached the school second team, from where he progressed to the first team then the captaincy.<ref>Swanton, pp. 20–23.</ref> His ability attracted the attention of [[Eton College]], where a friend of Allen's father, [[Cyril Wells|C. M. Wells]], was a [[housemaster]]. The family had planned to send Allen to [[Haileybury and Imperial Service College|Haileybury]], but Wells persuaded Allen senior to send his son to Eton instead, although it was a considerable financial burden on the family. Allen, although not initially keen on the prospect, started there in the winter of 1915–16.<ref>Swanton, pp. 25–27.</ref>

At Eton, Allen played many sports,<ref>Swanton, pp. 43–44.</ref> but his academic performance was no more than respectable,<ref name=S40/> and he later admitted to laziness.<ref>Swanton, p. 43.</ref> In cricket, Allen played for his [[House system|school house team]] and had reasonable success with bat and ball; by 1918 he was house cricket captain. After a trial match, and a spell in the school second team, he progressed to the Eton first team in 1919.<ref>Swanton, pp. 27–30.</ref> The effects of a rib injury limited his bowling, and he achieved little with the bat. Even so, he was chosen to play in the prestigious match against [[Harrow School]], played annually at [[Lord's]] in London.<ref>Swanton, p. 31.</ref> In his second innings, he scored 69 runs, the highest individual score of the game, and Eton won the match.<ref>Swanton, pp. 32–33.</ref> His rib injury continued to trouble him in 1920, and caused him such pain that he considered abandoning bowling altogether. The new Eton coach [[George Hirst]] persuaded him to continue,<ref>Swanton, p. 37.</ref> and a few weeks later Allen took nine for 19 (nine [[wicket]]s while conceding 19 runs) in an [[innings]] against [[Winchester College|Winchester]]. But other than this performance, Allen was ineffective.<ref>Swanton, pp. 38–39.</ref> More successful in 1921, he opened the batting for a time; he also opened the bowling, topping the Eton [[bowling average]]s.<ref>Swanton, p. 42.</ref> He had some success at Lord's against Harrow and a particularly fast bowling spell in this match was seen by [[Hubert Ashton]], who was to captain the [[Cambridge University Cricket Club|Cambridge University team]] the following year<ref>Swanton, pp. 41–42.</ref>—Allen had already been approved for a place at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] beginning later that year.<ref name=S40>Swanton, p. 40.</ref> He was chosen to play in the annual matches at Lord's in which two teams representing the best public schoolboys opposed each other, but was forced to withdraw with sunstroke.<ref>Swanton, pp. 42–43.</ref>

Towards the end of the 1921 season, Allen was invited to play [[first-class cricket]] as an [[Amateur status in first-class cricket|amateur]] for Middlesex,<ref name=S45>Swanton, p. 45.</ref> for whom he qualified by residence.{{refn|At the time, it was not unusual for schoolboys to play county cricket; several Eton pupils played during the 1921 season.<ref name=S45/>|group=notes}}<ref>Swanton, p. 46.</ref> Allen believed that Pelham Warner, who often supported young Middlesex cricketers, encouraged his selection by the club, despite the potential risks to the team's position in the [[County Championship]] from playing an inexperienced cricketer.<ref>Marshall, pp. 8–9.</ref> Allen made his first-class debut against [[Somerset County Cricket Club|Somerset]] on 21 August 1921 and made one other appearance that season without achieving much in either match.<ref name=figures>{{cite web| url = https://cricketarchive.com/cgi-bin/player_oracle_reveals_results2.cgi?playernumber=559&testing=0&opponentmatch=exact&playername=&resulttype=All&matchtype=All&teammatch=exact&startwicket=&homeawaytype=All&opponent=&endwicket=&wicketkeeper=&searchtype=InningsList&howout=All&endscore=&playermatch=contains&branding=cricketarchive&captain=&endseason=&startscore=&team=&startseason=| title = Player Oracle GOB Allen| website = CricketArchive| access-date = 18 March 2013}}</ref>