Allin, not surprisingly, chooses to remain on the farm.

Tom Allin completed a ten-wicket haul in the match as Warwickshire 2nds ended the second day well-placed against Derbyshire at Dunstall. Having taken six wickets in the first innings, Allin has added four for 28 so far second time round.

Derbyshire closed tonight on 186 for nine - 150 ahead. Earlier, the Bears made 207 (Calum MacLeod 30, Dougie Brown 21).

The first-class career of Allin's dad Tony coincided with one of the most acrimonious summers known at any county - at Glamorgan in 1976. It didn't half kick off. Majid Khan, aggrieved by committee-room whispering, quit the captaincy and then the club, the players received letters warning them to shape up or ship out, secretary Wilf Wooller got the dog's abuse, chairman Judge Rowe Harding resigned, the members revolted and, to cap it all, Basharat Hassan scored a century at Swansea.

Hardly surprising, then, that Tony rejected a new two-year contract and stayed on the farm in Devon.

His farewell appearance for Glamorgan, by the way, was against Warwickshire at Edgbaston and he took wickets despite running into John Jameson in form. On the opening morning Jameson scored 103 (including 86 in boundaries) before David Smith added 124 and Geoff Humpage 90 in a total of 409. Allin recorded a worthy 23.5-4-109-4, dismissing Rohan Kanhai, Phil Oliver, Eddie Hemmings and Bill Bourne.

The Bears were denied victory by a combination of John Hopkins' maiden century and rain. When they declared their second innings on 89 for 0, Allin signed off from first-class cricket with fascinating figures, like clay still to be sculpted, of 1-0-1-0.