Charles Allan
Left-Hand Bat & Wicket-Keeper
Right-Arm Off-Spin
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Debut: 26.09.1982
House: School
At LP: 1978-1983
Batting head-gear
Cap
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Fielding head-gear
Sun Hat
Favourite Graham Carter nick-name
Arthur Flat Cap
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Favourite OLCC Brothers
Carters
What are your three favourite films?
1 - The Third Man
2 - The Sting
3 -Defence of the Realm
What is your desert island book?
Wisden
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What is your desert island luxury item?
Race Horse
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Please provide your eight desert island discs:
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1 - All Blues - Miles Davis
2 - Panic in Detroit - David Bowie
3 - Hedonism - Skunk Anansie
4 - Elvira Madigan - Mozart
5 - Money in my pocket - Dennis Brown
6 - Rock Bottom (Live) - UFO
7 - I wouldn't believe your radio - Stereophonics
8 - Tripping - Skin
Beer or Wine: Both
Tea or Coffee: Coffee
Wet Shave or Dry Shave: Wet
Morning or Night: Night
City or Countryside: Countryside
Messi or Ronaldo: Messi
Pietersen or Boycott: Boycott
West Indies 80’s or Australia 90’s: West Indies 80's
Warne or Murali: Murali
WG Grace or Bradman: Bradman
Favourite ever umpire: Umpty from Weston Royals
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And what are your three things to go into Room 101?
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1 - Religion
2 - Caravans
3 - Nasty Antipodieans
One of the club's great characters, for whom the cliche 'larger than life' is, frankly, a cliche. Charlie is the archetypal bon viveur with a passion for the horses, fine French wines, work junkets to the States and sunbathing in a nappy (a sight not quickly forgotten). Though his warm genilaity periodically yields to a dark, brooding gloom, this usually only happens when he's (a) got out cheaply, (b) lost a bet, or (c) just heard the Leeds score.
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As a batsman, Charlie is one of the few club members who could be put in the 'bar-emptying' category: when he gets going, deliveries of any line and length are prone to be dispatched to the boundary with a series of satisfyingly clean hits. When he doesn't get going, it's back to the pavilion with a grumble about left-handers being given out when they shouldn't be, or another such excuse.
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As a wicket keeper, his chirpy banter winds up opposition batsmen and his standing up to the stumps winds up his own bowlers, some of whom didn't think they were that slow. Not that he has anything against bowlers: he is one himself occasionally, and has a few wickets to prove it. Off the field, Charlie has proved himself as a fine leader of men with his cup captaincy and organisation of tours; indeed, his mastery of the logistics of cricket tour organisation is such that on trips to the East Midlands he can often be heard switching effortlessly between two languages when giving tour speeches: broad Derbyshire, and refined Old Leightonian.
CCS