Parkinson’s not making up numbers

MATTHEW Parkinson insists he isn’t going on England’s Test tour of New Zealand this winter just to make up the numbers, he wants to show he is good enough to get in the team.

The 22-year-old – along with fast bowling team-mate Saqib Mahmood – were perhaps the biggest surprises named last month by national selector Ed Smith for the squad.

The pair have only limited experience of playing firstclass cricket for Lancashire. Parkinson has played just 20 games, but has taken 62 wickets, while Mahmood has taken 42 wickets in just 16 matches.

Both, however, have impressed in white ball cricket – mainly in the Vitality Blast, helping Lancashire finish top of the North Group before losing to eventual winners Essex in the quarter-final. That has also seen them both named in the T20 squad for the New Zealand tour.

With Chris Silverwood named new England head coach, Parkinson and Mahmood have a chance to top off what has been a successful season with the Red Rose by cementing their place in the Test squad for years to come.

“It still hasn’t sunk in really and it won’t until I meet with the squad on October 20,” said Parkinson. “The white ball has gone so well in the last few years for me, so when I heard they were picking a young squad for that then I thought I may have the chance, but to get picked for the Test squad – it’s amazing. “I am going to take my chance, I am not just going there to make up the numbers. I want to play.”

Although Parkinson is keen to be part of the XI that takes to the field for the first Test of the twomatch series at Tauranga on November 20, he is also using it as a chance to learn more about his game. He said: “I haven’t played a great deal of red ball cricket and conditions often dictate whether or not I do – it has been tough in Division 2 with Lancashire because our seam bowlers have been blowing sides away. “So it is nice to be selected, despite not playing too much cricket, as it shows I am doing something right.

“It will be amazing to train with them and learn from them and from the coaches.”

It still hasn’t sunk in really – to get picked for the test squad is amazing Matthew Parkinson