 The retirement of the spin bowlers George Tribe at the end of the 1959 season and Jack Manning in 1960 gave Allen more opportunities and he played consistently for Northamptonshire until the end of the 1963 season.Northamptonshire finished seventh in the 1963 County Championship table, an improvement on their second-bottom table showing the previous season.Allen moved to Derbyshire for the opening of the 1964 season, debuting against Glamorgan in an almost playless match.