Fabian Allen revels in fine batting form
JAMAICA Scorpions middle order batsman Fabian Allen says he is all about improvement, as he continues to grab attention in the regional four-day cricket competition.
The 22-year-old player, who made his firstclass debut last season, has been a revelation so far this campaign.
He has scored two unbeaten hundreds and a half-century in four matches, with an average of 89.5. Allen’s tally of 358 runs puts him third on the list of Scorpions’ runs scorers, behind the left-hand pair of Paul Palmer (385) and John Campbell (370).
His innings of 16 against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at Sabina Park in Kingston on the weekend was a rare failure during a season that has seen him miss two games due to injury.
Chance to return to his big-scoring ways comes with Thursday’s start of the seventh-round fixture against Windward Islands Volcanoes in St Lucia.
“I always want to reach the top, so I just keep the focus and keep doing the right things to get there. My plan when I go out is to get a start and then I look to cash in,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
When the Scorpions previously met the Volcanoes — in Kingston two weeks ago — Allen made 105 not out to help secure the home team’s victory.
During that innings he negotiated the Volcanoes off-spinner Shane Shillingford, one of the region’s best slow bowlers, with organised footwork and deft hands. His cover driving against both pace and spin caught the eye.
“The cover drive is one of my favourite shots; I like to drive and play the sweep shot. I’m strong playing spin and I like facing pace also,” the St Elizabeth native said.
For some, Allen’s success with the bat has been out of the blue. But he proved his worth for Jamaica at the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 age group levels and featured in the West Indies squad to the Youth World Cup in 2014.
The former Vere Technical student has also been prominent for Kingston CC in local club cricket, both as a batsman and a slow left-arm orthodox bowler.
He said he was regarded more as a bowling all-rounder as a youth player, but he developed his batting immensely when it became clear there was plenty of potential.
“At Vere I realised that [batting] was a strength, so I did what I was comfortable with. I developed my batting, worked on my batting more and now I’m a batting all-rounder. Right now the batting is clicking so there is focus on the batting, but I’m not saying I’m not giving attention to the bowling,” Allen explained.