Matt’s nod to mentor Mac
MATTHEW Parkinson’s blonde hair and the fact he is a leg-spinner invites early comparisons with Shane Warne, but it is another former Australia leggie who has influenced the youngster’s career.
Stuart MacGill, who was in Warne’s shadow for a number of years but still claimed 208 wickets in 44 Tests between 1998 and 2008, coached the Lancashire youngster in Sydney a couple of winters ago and the two remain in close contact.
Parkinson is in New Zealand with the England T20 squad on his first full senior tour with the Three Lions, and is hoping to make his Test debut next month.
And he says MacGill has had an influence on his career.
Parkinson said: “He’s probably my go-to and a sort of mentor. He’s been fantastic for me in the past two years.
“Shane Warne is the best legspinner to have played the game so I think if I do play Test cricket there will be comparisons naturally. Fingers crossed I can one day meet him.
“I don’t think I started bowling leg-spin because of him. It probably would have been the same time to the 2005 Ashes but I know my dad bowled leg-spin so I guess he was probably pushing me that way.
“It probably didn’t do any harm that Warne was obviously playing around that time. He was fantastic to watch in that brief time he was playing when I was growing up but I didn’t actually see a great deal of him live.”
Parkinson’s twin Callum is forging his own county career at Leicestershire, where the two played against each other in the final fixture of the Division Two season.
In a peculiar turn of events, the pair dismissed each other leg before, while Callum was on the field standing yards away from his sibling when Parkinson learned he was being drafted into England’s squad – after fellow call-up Saqib Mahmood shouted the news from the Lancashire balcony.
Parkinson said of his brother: “We’re not very competitive with each other, we’re just very supportive. I know he’s very proud of me that I’ve been selected in the England squad.”
As for whether Callum will make the trip to New Zealand, Parkinson added: “I think he might be.
“He’s playing grade cricket in Adelaide with (Leicestershire teammate) Mark Cosgrove. He might nip across but nothing’s been confirmed yet.”
Mahmood, meanwhile, made his England debut in the friendly T20 against a New Zealand XI yesterday.
He bowled four overs, and finished with 0-35 although his last two balls were hit for six in the win.