Jim Allen in his apartment at the Warden Assisted Facility in Lookout, Montserrat, on March 23, 2017.
The Right Honourable Charles Henry “Jim” Allen, who emerged from a tiny village in Montserrat and took his cricket talents across two continents, died Wednesday, July 2, 2025 at Glendon Hospital. Allen, who had been hospitalized several times in recent months, was 73 years old.
“I can’t believe Jimmers is gone,” said Basil Morgan, Allen’s longtime friend, former neighbor and ex-teammate. “Just today I was going over some of his cricket stats and talking about the Jim Allen Lecture Series that we just brought back. And then someone phoned me to ask if it was true that he died. My head is just not straight right now.”
Tributes poured in on social media and on Radio Montserrat, and calls were renewed for the cricket field at Little Bay to be named for Allen.
Allen earned international fame for his cricketing skills. After playing League Cricket for his village team in Harris, he joined the Montserrat national team two months shy of his 18th birthday. Selected as a wicket-keeper, he scored only four runs in his debut against Nevis in Antigua on June 9, 1969. Two years later he was the best player on the team.
For much of the 1970s, crowds flocked to Sturge Park just to watch Allen bat. Although the Montserrat team saw limited success, Allen stood out with his aggressive, hard-hitting drives. He stood only 5-foot-9 and weighed about 160 pounds, yet he unleashed towering shots that were the byproduct of superb timing and power.
Fitzroy Buffonge, who grew up watching Jim play and was later his teammate, once said of Jim’s batting prowess: “What Jim has can’t be taught. What the average man craves, he has naturally.”
Mike Findlay, a former West Indies player who was Allen’s captain for Combined Islands, said he was saddened by Allen’s passing. Speaking from St. Vincent, he said: “Jim was a fantastic man and a very good batsman. In the early stages he produced more runs than Viv Richards. It was unfair that he didn’t make the West Indies team. He was a good team person and we got along quite well. We had a deep respect for each other. I want to convey condolences to his family.”
Jim Allen, left, with mother Missy Allen and brothers David and George, circa 1959.
A STAR IS BORN
Charles Henry Allen was born August 15, 1951 in Harris Village to John “Handsome” Allen and his wife Matilda, better known as Missy. Jim was the last of the couple’s four children. The eldest was David, also known as Palmer, followed by Sarah and George, who would also leave his mark as a standout cricket player.
As a baby, Allen was beset by sores all over his body. Every remedy his parents tried failed. One morning their neighbor, Miss Bessie Mulcare, told the Allens she had a dream about a deceased man who used to clean the roads in the village. His name was Jim Brim. Miss Mulcare said Jim Brim told her in the dream that the baby should be named after him or else he would die. Miss Mulcare then lifted the ailing boy and addressed him as “Jim Brim.” Almost miraculously, his sores disappeared – but the name “Jim” remained.
Jim’s father migrated to England in 1955 with the intention to work and eventually return to Montserrat. He passed away in London in 1965 from a heart attack at age 57. Jim’s brother David (Palmer) migrated to the UK in 1960 and still lives in Oxford.
Jim attended St. George’s School in Harris. The school assumed his given name was James, so he went through school as James Allen, a mistake that wasn’t corrected. When Allen began playing cricket he was erroneously listed as “James Charles Allen” in cricket statistics and archives.
Jim Allen arrives in Australia for World Series Cricket in late 1977.
HAVE BAT, WILL TRAVEL
At age 20 and coming off a century against St. Kitts in the 1971 Leeward Islands Tournament, Allen was selected for the Leeward Islands team. After scoring 82 against the Windward Islands in Dominica, he was picked for the Combined Islands squad. That meant he was only one step away from joining the prestigious West Indies team. His dream would not be realized, however, due to a number of reasons.
At the time the Caribbean was packed with cricket talent, and the big four nations – Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana and Jamaica – controlled the board of selectors. Cricket in the small islands was viewed as inferior, and players had to be exceptional to make the West Indies squad.
Allen’s best season for Montserrat came in 1972. In the first two matches of the Leeward Islands Tournament he scored 153 and 51 – both not out – against Antigua, which featured future legends Viv Richards and Andy Roberts. He then scored 165 and 10 – both not out again – against Nevis. He entered the final match against St. Kitts on 379 unbeaten runs but scored only 16 and 14 as Montserrat – stymied by some nefarious umpiring – lost a heartbreaking bid to win the Shield. The late Bennette Roach, Montserrat’s captain that year, said during an interview in 2016 that after the match he couldn’t find Jim. “I finally found him in the bathroom crying,” Roach said.
Allen especially excelled against Antigua, posting an average of 79.88 for his career. He is the only player in Montserrat history to score a century against Antigua on its home ground.
Allen and Alford Corriette were the best players for the Montserrat team in the 1970s. Corriette also played for Leeward Islands and Combined Islands. There was an unspoken rivalry between the two, especially with Jim hailing from the country and Corriette from Plymouth. Corriette died January 2, 2023 in New York.
Jim Allen, playing for Combined Islands, hits a sweep shot against Trinidad in a Shell Shield match in 1979.
At the first-class level Jim smacked five centuries, including two against Barbados and a torrid 161 against Jamaica. In 1975 he scored 96 runs for Combined Islands against Trinidad in an exciting Shell Shield match that ended in a draw. The match was dubbed the “Tanti Merle match” after Trinidad storyteller Paul Keens-Douglas used it as the backdrop for his famous recording Tanti at The Oval.
Elquemedo Willett of Nevis was Jim’s teammate with Combined Islands when Jim scored 161 against Jamaica in Grenada in 1979.
“We were batting together,” Willett said. “Jamaica took the second new ball and Jim beat them all over the place. I couldn’t believe it. It’s like he went crazy. They couldn’t put any fielders close to him. He was a very good player, very aggressive. He stood out. He should have made the West Indies team. I’d like to express my sympathy on behalf of myself and my family.”
Allen’s brother George, who was two years older, was his teammate on Rivals, their village team, plus on the Montserrat national team, Leeward Islands and Combined Islands. George, who joined the Montserrat team in 1966 and played his final season in 1981, was a terrific all-rounder who bowled a tidy medium pace. George died on September 20, 1990.
In 1977, Jim was selected for the West Indies team that would play in World Series Cricket, also known as “Kerry Packer” for the man who organized it. Allen played two seasons in Australia – and also played matches in Tasmania – against the best cricketers in the world, scoring a century in 1978. He was part of cricket history in 1979 when West Indies played Australia in the first match in which players wore non-white uniforms.
One of the brightest moments of his career came at Sturge Park, his home ground. On January 13, 1977, Combined Islands played Guyana in the Shell Shield tournament. Allen, the only Montserrat player in the match, scored 150, including 21 fours and one six. He struck a few highlight shots off future West Indies fast bowler Colin Croft. The match began on a Thursday, and when news of Allen’s heroics was heard over the radio, many civil servants ditched work and raced to Sturge Park. So did a number of school children.
From 1977 to 1983, Allen played each summer in central England for the Hyde Cricket Club of the Lancashire and Cheshire League. He also played one season with Werneth, Hyde’s rival. He scored 11 centuries for Hyde, which remained a team record as of 2024. He scored three centuries for Werneth in his only season with the club.
In 1979, Jim Allen played for West Indies against Australia in World Series Cricket in the first match to feature non-white uniforms. CLICK HERE to read the story.
DEVASTATING INJURY
In May of 1981, Allen sustained a serious injury when he was struck in the right eye during batting practice. He underwent surgery and resumed his career while wearing contact lenses but was not the same. He displayed occasional flashes but mostly struggled and showed trepidation at the crease against fast bowling, which he feasted on during his prime. He played his final match for Montserrat in 1984, scoring just four total runs against Nevis.
“Going back to play cricket after my eye injury was pure stupidity,” Jim said during an interview in 2012.
In 1988, Allen got a job as a prison officer, a position he held for seven years. Following the volcanic eruption in Montserrat in 1995, he relocated from Harris to the North and lived in a small home in Peaceful Cottage. In 2013 he was relocated to the Warden Assisted Facility in Lookout, where he lived out his final years.
In 1978, Allen was awarded an MBE (Member of British Empire), and on March 8, 2020, he was presented with the Order of Excellence during the Montserrat National Awards.
Jim Allen, center, and a couple of friends during Cork Hill Reunion on March 19, 2017.
QUITE A CHARACTER
Away from the cricket field, Jim was known to be a prankster with a wry sense of humor. He also didn’t hide the fact that he was a hard drinker. A friend saw him one morning and asked if he had eaten breakfast. “Of course not,” Jim replied. “The rum shops haven’t opened yet.”
In the summer of 1978, Jim played with the Hyde Cricket Club in England. He lodged at the home of Peter and Lily Hardman in Stockport. One day Jim received a phone call from Frank Edwards, president of the Montserrat Sports Association. Edwards delivered great news. Jim had been awarded the MBE. After finishing the call, Jim turned to Lily Hardman.
“They said I just got an MBE. What’s that?”
Lily Hardman: “It’s a very prestigious honor. It’s from the Queen!”
Jim: “How much is she gonna pay me?”
Jim’s cricket acumen was underrated. He often discussed the nuances of the game at length. He once revealed that being a wicket-keeper was vital to his batting because while standing behind the stumps he could “see how the ball is behaving.”
He said his biggest regret is missing out on playing for the West Indies team in an official Test match. “I came very close but something failed me,” he said, adding that he thinks about it “all the time.”
Allen is survived by his son Davon Williams, daughter Kae Blossom Williams, sister Sarah Allen, brother David “Palmer” Allen, three grandchildren, one great-grandchild and numerous other family and close friends.
“A-WE JIM”
Jim Allen’s heroics for Combined Islands against Guyana in 1977 at Sturge Park elicited this classic poem by Montserrat’s Ann Marie Dewar.
What a carry-on a Sturge Park,
How de crowd a stomp an roar,
Combine Islands a play Guyana,
An a-we own Jim tap de score!
Some a you nuh mi born yet,
An me len you me sympathy,
For nutten coulda beat a-we joy dat day,
De joy Jim gi a-we!
Marmie-oh! Lek water from a bus pipe,
Lek bullet from a gun,
Lek how long-foot Sue make baby,
A so Jim put on run!
You should-a hear how Montserrat neaga,
Shout an clap out dey a Park,
You should-a see how a-we proud-off,
When Jim reach de hundred mark!
When Jim a bat he nuh mek joke,
Cricket ball a fly all over,
Slip, mid-on, bound’ry, square leg,
Fine leg an’ extra cover.
What a thing fo’ poor Guyana,
Dem try dem bes’ keep down de score,
But no matter wha’ dem do, a-we Jim,
Jus a hit nuff six an four.
Dem talk bout Jim ‘unorthodox stance’,
But dat nuh baddoo he,
Wid he han pan he bat, an he y’eye pan de ball,
He win de match wid one-fifty.
If Jim didn’ pick pan Combine,
Is how Combine would-a cope?
When Guyana man confront dem,
Is pan Jim dem heng dem hope.
Years after dat, wan ole man tell me,
Fo’ mark he words – an he mean
dat West Indies would-a beat Australia,
If Jim mi pan de team.
Every time me rememba, me proud until,
Me heart cyan full no more,
Combine Islands play Guyana,
An a-we own Jim top de score!
LISTEN TO LET JIM PLAY BY WRANGLER (1982)
LISTEN TO JIM ALLEN THE GREAT BY UNDERTAKER (2013)
That’s how to write man. Write our history. Yes I. No ley noobady te awe story dem fu awe. Write um good and plenty too. Have you got Johnny mack Brown?
[…] For more on his final innings and enduring legacy, revisit the original tribute on Montserrat Spotlight. […]
I recall an attempt under the doctor Lewis led government around 2006 to 2007 to name the Little Bay playing field to the Jim Allen Park.
The sign was actually made and installed over the gate.
Jim rejected the idea and the initiative withered and died.
Others will remember, and someone must have a picture.