1. Francis Erskine Allan was an Australian cricketer who represented Victoria in first-class intercolonial matches and made one Test appearance for Australia.
18 Facts About Frank Allan
1. 2.
Frank Allan was given the nickname "Kangaroo" because he would jump like a kangaroo to celebrate taking a wicket.
3.
Frank Allan began a lifelong association with the South Melbourne Cricket Club in 1866 when he played for the side in his first ever match.
4.
In 1878, Frank Allan formed part of the first representative Australian cricket team to tour overseas.
5.
Frank Allan played in his only Test match the following year on the Melbourne Cricket Ground, against Lord Harris' All-England Eleven, and had an opportunity to appear in the first ever Test, in 1877, facing James Lillywhite's XI, but controversially opted out at the last moment to attend a funfair in Warrnambool.
6.
Apart from bowling, Frank Allan was a fine fieldsman and an effective lower order batsman with an individual "mud-scrapping style" that others found amusing and "villainously ugly".
7.
Frank Allan took to many other sports, most notably billiards, shooting, and, after retiring from cricket, bowls.
8.
Frank Allan was a keen angler, remarking that he "would rather have a day's fishing on good water than play in the biggest of matches", and according to prominent naturalist Donald Macdonald, Allan "knew more about fish and fishing than anyone in Australia".
9.
Outside sport, Frank Allan worked in the public service as Victoria's Chief Inspector of Vermin Destruction, and strived to protect Australian fauna and flora.
10.
John and Caroline had eight children, Frank Allan being the third.
11.
In 1863, during the Victorian gold rush, Frank Allan joined an unsuccessful expedition in search of gold in the Otways.
12.
Frank Allan was probably past his best by the time Test cricket arrived but had a reputation as a superb medium pace bowler.
13.
Frank Allan had been selected for the first two Tests two years earlier but had declined selection both times, including preferring to attend the Warrnambool Agricultural Fair with friends than playing in the inaugural Test match.
14.
Frank Allan made his senior football debut in 1867 for South Melbourne, then a leading club of the metropolis, notorious for its brutal and uncompromising style of play.
15.
Frank Allan served as an administrator for Albert Park and occasionally acted as central umpire when it hosted other teams.
16.
Frank Allan played most of his football outside the VFA in Western District competitions for the Warrnambool Football Club.
17.
Frank Allan maintained close friendships with Aborigines from the Warrnambool district throughout his life.
18.
On 29 January 1917, the day he participated in a bowling tournament at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Frank Allan "contracted a chill" and was taken to Miss Garlick's Private Hospital in Flinders Lane, where he died on 9 February.