Geoff Allott will be remembered in New Zealand cricket history as the classic example of what might have been.

His ability in the one-day game was his forte and his finest moment was at the 1999 World Cup when he shared with Shane Warne the distinction of taking most wickets in the tournament. He took 20 at a cost of 16.25 and gave New Zealand some genuine thrust at the top of the order.

During his ODI career he took 52 wickets at 23.21, notching his 50 which was the fastest by a New Zealander, at the ICC KnockOut in Nairobi.

His Test career was nowhere near as impressive with his 19 wickets coming at a cost of 58.47. Those figures were not helped by the number of flat tracks he had to bowl on in New Zealand. In the 1998/99 Tests against South Africa he took one for 153 on the glued pitch at Eden Park and none for 109 on the flattest Jade Stadium pitch in years.

But it is indicative of the six stress fractures he suffered in his back that he played only 31 first-class matches in which he took 102 wickets at an average of 30.36.

Given his ability in the one-day game, it is surprising he played only 26 Shell Cup matches with his 35 wickets costing 20.54.

While his feats at the World Cup will be a suitable record of the largely unrealised potential he had, it is the courage he played the game with that will be especially memorable.

That is not only in relation to the pain he must have suffered with his back problems, but his courage under fire.

His bowling in the tied ODI at Napier against England, when he was making the first of his comebacks was especially memorable.

With Chris Harris having picked up three vital wickets with his looping inswingers, Allott came on to bowl the last few overs and he cleaned out the English tail to set up the tied match which had the crowd roaring by its end.

For a player with so little international experience it was a stunning performance but highlighted the way in which he played his cricket.

It was Glenn Turner who plucked Allott out of nowhere to play against Zimbabwe in 1996 and the accuracy which became such an asset in his one-day play was seen with his three wickets in the second Test at Auckland, all of them leg before wicket.

Again it was symptomatic of his injury problems that he was unable to attend the 1996 World Cup or tour the West Indies.

The following summer he performed outstandingly for the New Zealand A team which beat England in Wanganui when he and Heath Davis produced some spiteful bowling to knock over the tourists.

That won an immediate recall to the Test team for the last two Tests against England, but he broke down before the first Test against Sri Lanka in the same summer. He returned against Australia the following summer but was unable to play at home against Zimbabwe or to tour Sri Lanka.

It was against South Africa in the summer of 1998/99 that he revealed his 'prowess' with the bat.

At Eden Park he passed Godfrey Evans' record for the longest time getting off the mark in a Test. He took 101 minutes and when passing Evans' record of 97 minutes, he held his bat aloft in the manner of a batsman acknowledging applause for his century.

For all the problems he had taking Test wickets, he was able to dismiss quality batsmen and Alec Stewart appears four time on his list of kills.

And it was fitting that the last act of his career should be participation in New Zealand's first Test victory achieved at Lord's on the tour of 1999. He picked up three for 36 in the second innings, one less than the Test best he achieved at Jade Stadium in 1997 against England when he took four for 74.

Some of the comments made about his retirement were:

The chief executive of New Zealand Cricket, Christopher Doig: "No player has worked harder to fight his way back to fitness than Geoff Allott. He has always been 100 percent committed to New Zealand cricket and to his career and it is a testament to his courage and determination that he has played as long as he has and achieved significant success."

CLEAR Black Caps Stephen Fleming said: "Geoff loved playing for New Zealand and always gave 100 percent for the cause. He is a great team man and has an excellent sense of humour. It is a great shame that his career was cut short prematurely."

New Zealand selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee said: "Geoff Allott was a talented bowler. He was particularly dangerous in the one-day game. Being a left-armer gave him an advantage and he had an ability to move the ball away and across the right handed batsman, which he did with devastating effect in the World Cup taking 20 wickets. He was an asset with the new ball and also later in the innings when he had an ability to reverse swing the ball and take wickets."

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