Evoking the Spirit of Alletson

On May 20 1911 Ted Alletson, playing for Nottinghamshire against Sussex, played one of the most remarkable, and least well known, innings in cricket history. It was so extraordinary that John Arlott even wrote a short book dedicated to it.

The bare bones are these: Alletson, predominantly a bowler, came in with Notts 185-7. He initially played reasonably carefully, reaching 47 in 50 minutes by lunch, by which time Notts had lost a further two wickets and were in the mire. After lunch he went berserk. In the next 40 minutes he scored a mind boggling 142 runs out of a tenth wicket stand of 152. At one point he scored 115 runs in seven overs, including 34 from an over from E T Killick, who was said to be terrified that Alletson might hit one straight back at him, especially given that Alletson had, by this time, smashed the pavilion clock. By the time he was out, caught on the boundary by a fielder who is widely thought to have carried the ball over the rope, he had made 189 in just 90 minutes. It was his only first class hundred.

On March 2 2011, playing for Ireland against England in the World Cup, a world away from the cricketing existence of Alletson and his ilk, Kevin O’Brien, previously regarded as the useful but less talented brother of keeper/batsman Niall, evoked the spirit of Alletson with a quite remarkable innings against England.

Like Alletson, O’Brien’s innings came from a situation where all seemed lost. Before the game no-one had seriously given Ireland much of a chance, even after England’s travails against the Netherlands, and at 111-5 chasing 328 all seemed lost. With the pressure off, however, O’Brien could afford to play entirely naturally and he produced one of the most remarkable innings to have been played in any form of the game.

He reached his 50 in just 30 balls, an impressive effort but still, it seemed, simply an entertaining diversion. He then went into overdrive, taking just another 20 balls to reach his century. Along the way he hit thirteen fours and six sixes, a staggering 88 in boundaries. By the time he was run out he had taken his total to 113 in just 63 balls and Ireland to the brink of a famous victory, which was duly completed with five balls to spare. England looked shell shocked but also knew that they had lost to a truly remarkable innings and that credit had to be given where it was due. O’Brien said afterwards that he had played like he did in the garden, the fact that he had nothing to lose giving him a freedom to express himself in a way that comes along very rarely in the pressurised environment of international sport.

Kevin O’Brien may never end up being much more than a handy performer for Ireland, but whatever happens from hereon in he will always be remembered as the man who played one of the most astonishing innings of his time. Whatever the validity of the comparisons between him and Ted Alletson, it’s fair to say that only one of them had dyed his hair pink for the occasion, mind you.