Worcestershire seamer Ben Allison capped off a memorable 2025 campaign by playing a starring role in the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) tour earlier this month.
Taking 64 wickets across all formats this summer, Allison enjoyed his best season to date in Worcestershire colours, with his excellent form rewarded in the shape of a call-up to the MCC invitational squad for their tour of Zimbabwe.
During the tour, the MCC faced off against Zimbabwe A, Zimbabwe Cricket Academy and the Mid West Rhinos in a combination of red and white-ball fixtures.
The Worcestershire man enjoyed a successful time with the ball during the course of the trip, showing his white ball prowess opening the bowling for his side, taking wickets throughout.
A T20 double-header against the Mid West Rhinos kickstarted the tour, where Allison took the ball in the opening match, producing superb figures of 4-1-10-1 opening the bowling, at an economy of just 2.5 during a six wicket win.
In the day’s second match, Allison chipped in with 19 from 17 balls down the order to help the MCC up to 127-7 after their 20 overs, before bowling another tidy two over spell that cost just 12 runs. The efforts were in vain however, as the MCC went down by four wickets in a low scoring affair.
Ben’s third match of the tour saw him lead the attack in a 50-over contest against the same opponents, where he wreaked havoc at the top of the order to return exceptional figures of 3-23, before the contest was brought to a premature conclusion midway through his seventh over, with the Mid West Rhino’s 54-4.
Rested for the three-day game against Zimbabwe A, the 25-year-old picked up where he left off in another T20 double-header against the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy.
In a game reduced to 10-overs per side, Allison helped his side chalk up an eight wicket win by taking 2-15, before showing more of his capabilities with the bat in the second match as he joint top-scored with 31* from just 20 balls, collecting a further two wickets with the ball in the process but was unable to prevent the MCC from falling to defeat.
In the final game of the tour, Allison once again showed his prowess in all three facets of the game. He helped his side to a 23-run victory, firstly blitzing 30 off 18 balls in a cameo that included five boundaries, before producing figures of 4-1-21-1 with the ball and claiming two run-outs, to cap off a memorable experience.
