Chapple can coach England - Parkinson
PARKINSON STILL WAITING TO MAKE HIS TEST BOW
MATTHEW Parkinson believes Glen Chapple can become England head coach.
The Lancashire boss has been drafted in to the Three Lions set-up as bowling coach for the forthcoming Test series against the West Indies.
He has previously been in charge of an England Lions tour, and is also an ECB scout, reporting back to the National Selector Ed Smith on possible future England players he sees on the county circuit.
The 46-year-old has been head coach at Emirates Old Trafford since 2017, but has worked on the coaching staff at the club under Ashley Giles – who is now the ECB’s director of cricket – and Peter Moores.
And Parkinson, who is in the 30-man training squad named earlier this week for the West Indies series, believes the former Red Rose captain has what it takes to one day follow Chris Silverwood as England boss.
“It is due reward for him. He has been fantastic with me,” said the 23-year-old leg-spinner.
“He has given me the opportunity which has led to my England selection, he has been a fantastic mentor over the past few years and I know he did some good work on the 2018 Lions trip to the West Indies. It is just reward for him.”
And when asked if he thinks Chapple could become England coach, he replied: “Yes I do, if he wants it.
“He is a fantastic bowling coach and head coach. He brings a wealth of experience, he is just short of 1,000 first-class wickets. I am not sure he has actually retired from playing yet either! He has been head coach for four years now, he has had 20 years of playing, he has seen it all.
“He is the big boss at Lancs, with England he will be one of the main coaches but there will be less pressure on him to lead sessions and he can focus on a group of around 10 seam bowlers. He will be able to get more work done, while as a head coach he has to deal with 26 players.”
Parkinson, from Bolton, has been working with Chapple over the past three weeks as Lancashire’s England players returned to training early to prepare for the West Indies Series.
He will now join the rest of the 30-man squad at the Ageas Bowl on Tuesday for a training camp and inter-squad warm-up games before the final party is selected.
Parkinson toured New Zealand and South Africa with England last winter, and although he made his T20 debut, is still waiting to make his Test bow.
That could have come in Sri Lanka in March as he impressed in the warm-up game, but the squad flew back before the series began due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Now he is keen to prove himself again in the hope of receiving that Test cap.
“Hopefully I can pick up where I left off in Sri Lanka,” he said.
“The work I did over there and being around the England squad put me in a decent position. I have had months to reflect on that and on how
I am going to get better and try and impress Chris Silverwood and Joe Root in this period.
“When the tour first got cancelled I was gutted. I thought I could miss out on playing, but as the last couple of months have unfolded and you see things getting worse and worse you can see it was the right thing to do.
“I didn’t do enough in New Zealand with the red ball to warrant selection, so to tick that box in the warm-up to the Test match in Sri Lanka, it was nice to be in a more relaxed position and think that if I did get selected I was ready to go.
“I think I showed some improvements from the winter and fingers crossed they liked it and pick me.”