BRADES, Montserrat, CMC – The Montserrat community was plunged into mourning on Wednesday with the death of cricket icon Charles Henry “Jim” Allen.

Allen passed away around 6:30 p.m. at the age of 73.

He was widely regarded as Montserrat’s greatest cricketer, having represented the island from 1969 to 1984.

Allen, who played two seasons for the West Indies in the Kerry Packer Series, also excelled for the Leeward Islands and Combined Islands.

He never played Test cricket for the official West Indies team, a fact he told journalist Edwin Martin, was the biggest regret of his career.

Born in Harris’ Village, Allen starred in cricket from a young age and made his debut for the Montserrat national team in 1969.

On his first-class debut for the Leeward Islands on January 15, 1972, he scored one and 82 against the Windward Islands at Roseau.

An attacking right-handed batsman with an unorthodox, open-chest, wide-leg batting stance, Allen was soon considered a more exciting batsman than his Leeward Islands’ teammate Vivian Richards.

Allen became the first professional Montserratian sportsperson when he began playing in England during the northern summer, turning out for teams in the Lancashire and Cheshire Leagues.

His best season was 1976/77, where he scored 559 first-class runs at an average of 50.81, with a highest score of 150.

Allen is the father of Davon Williams and brother of George Allen, both of whom represented Montserrat and the Leeward Islands in first class cricket.