Parky hoping to finally get in on the action after ODI call
MATTHEW Parkinson may finally get to play some cricket after being named in England’s ODI squad for the series against India which starts this week.
The Lancashire leg-spinner has been with the touring party since the Test team arrived in Asia in January.
He has been in the bubble as a reserve for both the Test series and T20 series, which finished in a 3-2 defeat on Saturday.
But apart from appearing in the intra-squad warm-up match in Hambantota in January, he hasn’t played since Lancashire’s final T20 Blast game with Nottinghamshire on Finals Day on October 4.
But the 24-year-old, along with Red Rose team-mate Liam Livingstone, have both been named in the main squad for the three-match series, which starts in Pune tomorrow.
One player who won’t be in action is Jofra Archer, who has been ruled out of the series and the start of the Indian Premier League due to his ongoing elbow injury.
Archer has just completed five Twenty20 appearances for England in the space of nine days, bowling his maximum allocation of 20 overs, but has been managing a painful right elbow throughout.
He missed two of the four Tests against India as a result of the same issue and is being sent back home for further assessment.
As a result he will play no part in the three 50-over games in Pune and will no longer join up with Rajasthan Royals for the beginning of the IPL campaign.
Archer, whose deal with the franchise is worth around £800,000, was tournament MVP in the last edition but it is now unclear when or if he will rejoin the ranks.
“Jofra Archer is returning to the UK for further management and investigation of his right elbow injury,” read a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board.
“Jofra’s elbow issue has deteriorated over the course of the Twenty20 International series and made it increasingly challenging for him to maintain performance levels. He has been deemed unfit for selection for the ODI series.”