Former England batting great Allan Lamb has turned 70 today (June 20), the right-handed batter was originally born in Cape Province of South Africa on June 20, 1954. He made his international debut for England in the Leeds ODI against India on June 02, 1998. The stylish batter played for a decade while representing the Three Lions at the highest level of the game.
In his illustrious decade-long international career, Lamb went on to play 79 Tests and 122 ODIs for England, scoring 4656 Test runs and 4010 ODI runs with averages of 36.09 and 39.31 respectively. He also had 14 Test centuries and 4 ODI centuries on his credit, alongside 18 Test half-centuries and 26 ODI half-centuries.
Having said that, here we’ll have a look at the top 3 Test knocks of Allan Lamb in his international career.
3. 137* runs against New Zealand, 4th Test – 1983
New Zealand were on the tour of England in 1983 and both teams were taking on each other in the fourth and last Test of the four-match Test series at the Trent Bridge, Nottingham. The hosts’ skipper Bob Willis won the toss and asked his batters to take the charge first. While batting first, the Englishmen posted a big total of 420 runs before bundling out New Zealand at the score of 207 runs to take a massive 213-run lead at the end of the first innings.
Later in the second innings, it was Allan Lamb for England who took centre stage for England, scoring an unbeaten knock of 137 runs with 22 fours, helping England to post a total of 297 runs and getting a lead of 509 runs to set a mammoth target of 510 runs for NZ, in response of which the latter was bundled out at the score of 345 runs with England winning the game by 165 runs and series by 3-1.
2. 139 runs against India, 1st Test – 1990
It was around the sunset of Allan Lamb’s international career in 1990, just two years before his retirement, when Mohammad Azharuddin-led India were on the tour of England for the three-match Test series, the first match of the series was being played in London, in which the hosts’ batters brutally thrashed the India bowlers, posting a mammoth total of 653 runs for the loss of just 4 wickets before declaring the innings. skipper Graham Gooch’s historic 333-run knock was one of the highlights of this match.
Besides this, today’s birthday boy Allan Lamb also contributed to England’s massive total, scoring 139 runs off 187 balls, with 22 fours. These knocks powered England to beat the visitors by a massive margin of 247 runs to gain a lead of 1-0 in the three-match series, which they maintained till the end and won the series.
1. 142 runs against New Zealand, 3rd Test – 1992
Just 4 months before Lamb’s international retirement, England was on the tour of New Zealand. Both teams were taking on each other in the 3rd match of the three-match Test series. The visiting skipper Graham Gooch won the toss and decided to bat first; England scored 305 runs in the first innings courtesy of Alec Stewart’s century, in response to which the Blackcaps scored 432 runs in the first innings.
Later in the second innings, England scored 359 runs for the loss of 7 wickets before declaring the innings. Allan Lamb’s 142 runs off 230 balls, with 19 fours and 2 sixes in England’s second innings. However, the match ended in a draw but this valiant knock happened to be the best-ever Test knock played by Allan Lamb in his international career.